Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant was built with Russian help Friday, 7 January 2011
EU spurns Iran nuclear tour offer
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant was built with Russian help The European Union plans to reject Iran's invitation for an EU ambassador to tour Iran's nuclear sites.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, said it was the job of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to examine Iran's nuclear sites.
Iran says it will open its nuclear facilities to envoys from several countries, including Russia and China, but not the US.
Many Western countries suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.
"What I'll be saying is the role of the inspections of nuclear sites is for the IAEA and I do hope Iran will ensure that the IAEA is able to go and continue and fulfil its work," Baroness Ashton told Reuters news agency on Friday.
Earlier the US State Department dismissed Iran's offer of an inspection tour by diplomats as a "clever ploy".
The last such trip which Tehran arranged was in February 2007.
Iran said the visit would take place ahead of a second round of talks on its nuclear programme, scheduled for late January in Istanbul, Turkey, although no date has been confirmed.
Iran is set to hold talks with the five permanent UN Security Council members - the US, Russia, China, the UK and France - plus Germany.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-12136439
Landon Ramm Alana Handschumaker Nathanial Maccord Kristeen Tannery
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