The UN's head nuclear inspector arrived in Iran on Sunday to resolve "outstanding substantive issues" relating to the country's nuclear program, as lawmakers there weighed banning oil exports to the European Union in a growing dispute.

Herman Nackaerts, chief inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters before leaving Vienna that he was hopeful Iran would cooperate with the mission's goals.

"In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," he said. "We are looking forward to the start of a dialogue, a dialogue that is overdue since very long."

Western nations believe Iran's uranium enrichment program is intended to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran says it is only for energy production and medical treatment.

Nackaerts leads a six-person team, which is likely to visit the Fordo enrichment plant south of Tehran before leaving Iran on Tuesday. The IAEA said earlier this month that Iran was enriching uranium to 20 percent purity at an underground bunker at the site, taking it closer to the 90-percent level needed for a nuclear bomb.

"We have information that indicates that Iran has engaged in activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device," IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Race to ban oil

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Iran have come close to banning exports of oil to the European Union, which passed its own import ban of Iranian oil on Monday of last week.

"Iran will halt all its oil exports to European countries as long as they continue to ban oil imports from Iran," Nasser Soudani, deputy chairman of the parliamentary energy commission, was quoted as saying on Press TV.

Iran's intention is to gain the upper hand in the dispute with the EU, whose ban does not go into effect until July 1. The EU represents some 18 percent of Iran's oil exports, with the country's main export markets being India, Japan, Korea and Turkey.

Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Martin Kuebler