Tuesday, August 9 2005 11:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: The United Nations yesterday (Aug 8, 2005) confirmed that Iran has restarted its nuclear activities at Isfahan facility, which it had suspended under an agreement with Britain, France and Germany, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) installed its monitoring cameras but prior to their 'in site testing'.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei informed the agency's Board of Governors of the latest development almost 24 hours prior to its emergency meeting called by the three European nations after Tehran rejected their proposal that it would not restart uranium enrichment activities in return for economic and political support.

"Director General Mohamed ElBaradei informed members of the Board of Governors that Iran today started to feed Uranium Ore Concentrate (UOC) into the first part of the process line at the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF).

"This activity was commenced following the installation by the IAEA of cameras covering the input stage of the UOC process line, but regrettably prior to completion of the in situ testing of the cameras, which normally takes 24 hours following installation," the Vienna-based agency said.

"It should be noted that the sealed parts of the process line remain intact," it said.

The enriched uranium can be used for both as fuel for power production and in the making of nuclear weapons.

Iran says its programme is purely for peaceful purposes but the United States suspects that it might be trying to produce nuclear weapons.