TEHRAN, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived Wednesday to survey operations at a uranium mine in Iran, the Iranian government confirmed.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said a team of inspectors arrived at the Gachin uranium mine near the port of Bandar Abbas, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The spokesman said IAEA inspectors are there for one day of inspections and head home later to Austria. The inspectors are operating under the terms of a bilateral agreement reached between Iran and the IAEA in November, IRNA reports.
Iran and the IAEA agreed to work more closely together in an effort to add a layer of transparency to Iran's nuclear program.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said Iran began implementing the agreement for more monitoring and verification of its nuclear activities last week.
Iran is suspected of pursuing the technology needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon, a charge it denies. Under a separate deal reached last year with Western powers, Iran suspends enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions.
