Iran lets in UN inspectors ahead of nuclear report

Iran has made significant concessions to UN nuclear inspectors days before a highly critical report on the country's nuclear programme is due to be published, diplomats said today. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Iran's nearly complete heavy water reactor near the central town of Arak last week, after having been barred from the site for a year. Western officials say the reactor could be used to make plutonium, but Tehran maintains it is for research and the production of medically useful isotopes. IAEA inspectors became alarmed when they were no longer allowed access to the site last year and a roof was constructed over the reactor so they were no longer able to keep track of its progress from satellite photographs. Diplomats also told the Guardian tonight that the Iranian government had made concessions over IAEA monitoring at Iran's highly controversial uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.