EU, China receive Iran invitation

The European Union and China confirm having received an invitation from Iran to tour the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

On Tuesday, Iran invited envoys representing geographical and political groups in the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Iran’s nuclear sites.

“We can confirm receipt of the letter by our ambassador to the IAEA…,” a spokesman for the European Commission was quoted by Monsters and Critics as saying.

“We will respond in due course after consulting with our international partners,” the spokesman added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says Beijing has received the invitation from Iran and that China is “communicating with Iran on this issue,” IRNA reported.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, announced earlier that a number of his counterparts would visit “Natanz enrichment facilities and Arak heavy water reactor”.

“The plan [invitation] is in line with the Islamic Republic’s transparent nuclear policy,” Soltanieh added.

The Iranian envoy stressed that Vienna representatives of different countries paid a similar visit to Isfahan’s Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) in 2006.

During the visit, which is scheduled for January 15 and 16, the ambassadors would meet with Iranian officials as well, the Iranian ambassador said.

Earlier on the same day, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast also confirmed reports of the invitations.

“The invitation of some members of P5+1 group, the European Union, the Group of 77 and the Non-aligned Movement is a new initiative by the Islamic Republic with the aim of making Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities transparent,” Mehmanparast said in his weekly press briefing.

Iran’s invitation comes ahead of planned multifaceted talks with six major world powers, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, Britain, France, Russian, and China — plus Germany in Turkey in late January.