Tehran
European diplomats have wrung a pledge from Iran to allow U.N. inspectors into nuclear facilities. The foreign ministers from France, Germany, and Britain persuaded Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to temporarily halt the country’s uranium-enrichment program and allow spot inspections of nuclear power plants. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency had earlier said it had evidence that Iran was building nuclear weapons, and it set a deadline of Oct. 31 for Iran to submit to inspections. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Iran would permit “total transparency, because we are not pursuing an illegal program.” The U.S. has argued that Iran, one of the world’s biggest producers of gas and oil, has no possible need for nuclear power except to make weapons.
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