Nuclear Watchdog Chief to Visit Iran

The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency is traveling to Iran this weekend to discuss the country's recently revealed uranium enrichment facility, a spokesman said Saturday.

Photo: Nuclear Watchdog Chief to Visit Iran

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei will discuss the uranium facility with Iranian officials, an agency spokesman said, reports CNN.

Tehran has rejected reports that it reached a deal with world powers to ship its enriched uranium abroad for further processing, says an official. Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the assumption that such an agreement had been reached with the P5+1 (permanent members of Security Council plus Germany) during the Geneva talks was untrue.

The Council's Media Secretary Peyman Jebelli made the announcement in an exclusive interview with Press TV. Jebelli's comments came after some media outlets reported that Iran had agreed to ship low-grade uranium to Russia and have it returned to Tehran after it had been enriched to a level of 20 percent.

According to the reports France would replace the uranium in sealed fuel assemblies that Iran would later use to operate a Tehran reactor which produces medical isotopes, Press TV informs.

Iran's president says President Barack Obama made a big mistake when he accused the country of hiding a newly revealed nuclear site that Iran claims it reported to the U.N. nuclear watchdog within the necessary timeframe.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments Saturday come just before the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, is scheduled to arrive in Iran to discuss the uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom.

ElBaradei recently said Tehran was "on the wrong side of the law" over its new plant. He said Iran should have revealed its plans as soon as it decided to build the facility — a position backed by the U.S., The Associated Press reports.