IAEA Team Arrives in Iran for Talks

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team arrived in Iran early Sunday on a mission to clear up what it called “outstanding substantive issues” on Tehran’s nuclear program, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said. The delegation is scheduled to hold talks with Iranian officials and quoted its No. 2 official, Rafael Grossi, as saying the team “will probably visit the Fordo” enrichment site south of the capital Tehran. The IAEA says Iran began enriching uranium to 20% purity deep inside a mountain bunker at Fordo, taking it closer to the level needed for a nuclear bomb. The visit comes after a damning report by the atomic watchdog agency in November raised suspicions that the Islamic republic had done work on developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA team is expected to seek explanations for the issues raised in the report, including information that Iran appears to have worked on a nuclear weapon design, and demand access to sites, officials and documents relevant to the agency’s probe. The visit marks the first time since 2008 that the IAEA has been welcomed by Iran.