IRAN IAEA inspectors visit nuclear facilities

Tehran says its nuclear program is merely for generating electricity.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Five U.N. weapons inspectors arrived in Iran to visit uranium enrichment and reprocessing plants, Iranian media reported Saturday -- a visit Iran hoped would prove its nuclear intentions are peaceful.
The visit by the inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency was the first since Iran announced in mid-February that it was suspending surprise inspections and removing agency cameras from some nuclear facilities.
Work begins today
Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammed Saeedi, said the inspectors would begin their work at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility in central Iran today, followed by a visit to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
Tehran says its nuclear program is merely for generating electricity, not weapons as the U.S. claims.
"The presence of the inspectors in Iran suggests that Iran wants to cooperate with the [U.N. nuclear] agency as before," one state-run radio broadcaster said Saturday.
The previously scheduled inspection comes ahead of a visit early next week by Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, who is expected to encourage Iran's hard-line government to concede on its atomic program.
"Tehran expects that ElBaradei will announce that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful since the inspections have not revealed anything to the contrary," the state-run radio broadcaster said.
Refuses to halt activity
On March 29, the U.N. Security Council demanded Iran suspend enrichment and asked the IAEA to report back in 30 days on whether it had complied.
Iran has so far refused to halt its nuclear activity, saying the small-scale enrichment project was strictly for research and was within its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Further heightening tensions, Iran last week unveiled a series of what it portrayed as sophisticated, homemade weapons, including flying boats and missiles invisible to radar.
Though experts questioned Iran's claims about its weapons capabilities and believe much of the military technology displayed came from Russia, the war-games involving some 17,000 of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf sent a message that Iran has the capability to hit oil tankers if antagonism with the U.S. turns into a confrontation.
ElBaradei's trip is meant to defuse growing tensions, though a partial success could exacerbate differences among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
The five inspectors, who arrived in Tehran Friday, will stay in Iran for five days, state-run television reported.