Iran's transparency deal with IAEA seen as flawed

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's deal with United Nations inspectors to resolve questions about its nuclear programme will fall short of dispelling suspicions about clandestine efforts to build nuclear weapons, diplomats say.

They say the working document is flawed for apparently ruling out future inquiries by inspectors and making no mention of wider-ranging checks that the U.N. nuclear watchdog itself has said are needed to verify Tehran has no hidden bomb agenda.

It also does not define what Iran must do to resolve open questions, and ignores a U.N. demand for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment to regain trust in its nuclear aspirations.

Diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency touted the "understandings" with Iran as a milestone for laying out a timetable for transparency by December after four years of stalling by Tehran that prompted U.N. sanctions.

"It's a good work plan with phases and dates to resolve outstanding issues, as requested by the (IAEA's 35-nation) board of governors. Board members should welcome this development," a senior agency official told Reuters.

The August 21 pact, whose text was released on Monday, said Tehran had resolved the first issue relating to the nature of its nuclear work -- secret, small-scale experiments with plutonium, the commonest ingredient in nuclear bombs.

Details of what Iran did to defuse concerns about the tests may emerge in a new IAEA report due on Wednesday, two weeks before a meeting of the agency's 35-nation governing board.

The report will shed light on Iran's level of cooperation and could influence pending talks among six world powers on possible harsher sanctions. The United States favours tougher measures but Russia is opposed as long as Tehran's rapprochement with the IAEA proceeds.