Iran says IAEA official might visit the country within 2 weeks

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that an official of the United Nations nuclear watchdog will probably visit the country within the next two weeks.

Baghaei made the remarks at a weekly press conference while commenting on the form of the future cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the country's position on the continuation of uranium enrichment on its soil.

He said Iran sought to define a new protocol with the IAEA, in view of a binding law approved by the Iranian parliament in June to suspend cooperation with the agency, to see how it can continue its collaborations with the UN nuclear watchdog.

"Within the next two weeks, one of the agency's officials will probably visit Iran, during which the technical dimensions of these issues will be discussed," he said, without specifying who would visit Iran and giving the exact date.

Regarding whether Iran will remain a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Baghaei said Tehran's continued commitment to the NPT should be accompanied by guarantees that the country would be able to enjoy the rights and benefits of its membership in the treaty.

"It cannot be expected that a country continues its membership in the NPT but be deprived of the rights stipulated in the treaty, especially those pertaining to the peaceful use of nuclear energy," he said.

Following attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities from June 13 to 24, the Iranian parliament on June 25 voted for a resolution, which was later passed into law by the country's Constitutional Council, requesting the country's administration to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.