(Refiles to remove extraneous material at the bottom of the
story)
By Marcus George
DUBAI, May 8 (Reuters) – An International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) nuclear inspector working in Iran was killed in a
car accident on Tuesday, the agency and Iranian media reported.
The South Korean national was travelling near the Arak heavy
water plant at midday local time when the car skidded and rolled
over, Fars News quoted Iran’s Atomic Energy organisation as
saying. Iranian media said a Slovakian IAEA official who was
also in the car was taken to hospital for treatment.
The IAEA said it had been informed that two of its
safeguards inspectors were involved in a car accident in Iran.
“One of the inspectors, from the Republic of Korea, was
killed; the other, from Slovenia, was injured. The Agency is in
touch with the inspectors’ families, and with the Iranian
authorities,” the IAEA said in a statement.
The agency carries out regular inspections of Iran’s nuclear
sites and often sends inspectors to Iran to visit some of its
atomic installations.
The IAEA undertook two high-level trips to Iran at the
beginning of this year in an effort to address questions raised
in an IAEA report in November on suspected Iranian research
activities relevant to nuclear weapons.
Iran has dismissed the allegations as fabricated.
The agency has periodically been given access to the Arak
compound that houses Iran’s IR-40 heavy water reactor. Built to
produce power and radiological isotopes for use in medical
treatments and industry, Iranian officials say it will be
switched on next year.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its
nuclear programme to cover up its development of a nuclear
weapons capability but Tehran maintains its activities are
purely peaceful.
(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Jon Hemming)
