Iran signs protocol on snap nuke inspection

Iranian Ambassador Ali Akbar Salehi signed an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at a ceremony at the Vienna headquarters of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Iran has turned a new leaf," said IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei, who has urged that the accord was the only way for Tehran to prove that its atomic programme is purely peaceful.

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"The protocol is an important tool for establishing confidence... to determine that the Iranian nuclear programme is totally peaceful... we will have the legal right to inspect all the installations and sites of Iran."

The inking came two months after the IAEA threatened to present its concerns over Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

"This is the opportunity for Iran to break a vicious circle that has been going on for 20 years," ElBaradei said.

Salehi told reporters: "It is a landmark event, I hope that now my country will not be exposed anymore to unfair and politically motivated accusations."

The United States, which has accused Iran of using its civilian nuclear energy programme to secretly develop atomic weapons, said the signing of the additional protocol was just a first step.

"It is welcome that Iran has made this commitment, but what is important remember is that it is only a first step," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

"Iran needs to bring this into force, needs to ratify this additional protocol that is now signed and above all it needs to implement the programmes that they have agreed to," he said.

Iran had long resisted signing the additional protocol but made an about-face under intense diplomatic pressure in October when the foreign ministers of EU countries Britain, France and Germany visited the country.

Tehran then agreed to sign the additional protocol, hand over full details of its activities and suspend uranium enrichment.

In November the IAEA adopted a resolution condemning it for 18 years of covert nuclear activity.