UN cameras set up inside Natanz

Tehran: The UN nuclear watchdog has installed surveillance cameras at Iran's underground nuclear plant where "industrial-scale" enrichment of uranium is planned, an Iranian official said yesterday.

In Vienna, a diplomat familiar with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) operations in Iran confirmed cameras were now in place inside the vast, bunker-like complex at Natanz after what diplomats called obstruction by Tehran last month.

The Iranian official, who asked not to be identified, said the Vienna-based IAEA had full supervision of the subterranean section of Natanz through monitoring and inspections.

Heightening concerns among Western powers who suspect Iran is secretly trying to build atom bombs, something it denies, Vienna diplomats said on February 2 that Tehran had refused to let IAEA inspectors set up the cameras in Natanz, but that efforts were under way to resolve the dispute.

"Inspectors are in the [underground plant], safeguard measures, including the cameras, are in place that are necessary at this stage. The dispute was settled," said the first Vienna diplomat. "That means 'at this stage'. IAEA measures will need to be increased and adjusted once Iran goes into enriching uranium in the underground plant," the diplomat added.

Another senior Iranian official said Iran wanted to display its transparency by allowing the IAEA to install the cameras.