DHAKA: The UN atomic watchdog is considering increasing its presence in Iran to better handle a bigger workload in verifying Tehran is implementing a landmark deal with world powers to curb its nuclear programme.

Diplomats said, reports TDS.

Faced with an expanded role as a result of the November 24 accord, the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to need more inspectors in Iran and is also examining whether to set up a small, temporary office there, they said.

While IAEA inspectors frequently travel to Iran to make sure there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes, they do not now have any such operational base.

It was unclear whether the UN agency had already raised the matter with Iran, which would need to approve it.

The extent of IAEA monitoring can be controversial in the Islamic Republic, which in the past has accused the Vienna-based watchdog of acting like a Western-manipulated intelligence agency and of leaking confidential information to adversaries seeking to sabotage its nuclear programme.

But relations have improved since the June election of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as Iranian president, paving the way for a diplomatic thaw with the West later in the year.

‘I don’t think it would be sensitive,’ a Western diplomat in the Austrian capital said. ‘It should be seen as a natural corollary to daily access. If staff are there every day they should be able to have an office.’

BDST: 1553 HRS, JAN 12, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor