Iran Says Parchin Not a Nuclear Site, Agrees to IAEA Inspection

While reiterating its stance that there are no nuclear weapons activities going on in the military site of Parchin, Iran has agreed to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency team to inspect the site.

Parchin is a military site and speculations that this site is used for nuclear activities are totally wrong, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted in a DPA report.

We basically have no objection to any IAEA inspections of Parchin but some modalities had first to be cleared, and if the visiting U.N. team had been a bit more patient, the permission would have been granted back then, he said referring to the IAEA high-level visits to Tehran in January and February, which failed to materialize.

The IAEA has asked Iran for a report regarding the ongoing work at Parchin, which, according to the West, may pertain to Tehran's clandestine nuclear program.

Responding to allegations that Iran may try to cover up its nuclear weapons program in Parchin, Mehmanparast said: Anybody familiar with nuclear activities is aware that nuclear traces cannot be cleaned up or covered.

By letting the IAEA inspect the military site, Iran has finally conceded to the six world powers which had been demanding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to keep his promise to let international inspectors visit the military installation.

The P5+1 group of nations, a format in reference to the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council - the U.S., the UK, France, Russia and China - and Germany, Tuesday accepted an offer from Tehran for renewed talks on its nuclear program.

During two inspections in 2005, the IAEA had not found any traces of nuclear weapons program. However, the U.N. nuclear watchdog is keen on a fresh visit after having obtained additional information regarding Iran's nuclear activity.