European Union officials say they have no way to confirm Iran's assertion that it has achieved industrial-scale uranium enrichment, because international nuclear inspections have largely been suspended. A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said resumed inspections are the only path to verifying what Tehran is actually doing.
Spokeswoman Cristina Gallach called on Iranian leaders to comply fully with the latest UN Security Council resolution, saying that doing so would allow inspections to restart and open the door to renewed diplomatic talks. Iran has already faced two rounds of UN sanctions for refusing to halt enrichment activities.
Two inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Iran on a routine visit, one day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that the country had entered a new phase of its nuclear program. Iran maintains the program is intended solely for civilian energy production, while the United States and other nations suspect it is pursuing weapons capability.
Solana had spoken the previous week with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, reiterating Tehran's UN obligations and reaffirming the international community's offer to negotiate. Gallach noted that no response had been received since that conversation, and that while a face-to-face meeting between the two men remained possible, no date had been arranged.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2007, in its own words.