IAEA Visit To Iran Due To End Today

Herman Nackaerts, head of a delegation of the IAEA in Iran

A team of UN nuclear experts is due to end a three-day fact-finding mission to Iran today, despite Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi's offer to extend it.

The team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is seeking answers to questions raised by a recent report suggesting Iran's nuclear program could have a military element.

Salehi has expressed optimism the IAEA will help ease tensions.

The chief of the IAEA team, Herman Nackaerts, has urged Iran to work with the mission, saying such cooperation is long overdue.

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, has characterized the visit as a "test" for the IAEA, saying Iran would cooperate if the IAEA acted "professionally" and not as "a tool of the West."

Compiled from agency reports