The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Tehran

A top UN atomic watchdog official was holding fresh talks on Iran's nuclear drive on Monday, just a day after Tehran announced it sent a rocket into space in a move Washington branded "troubling."

Olli Heinonen, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Tehran for his second round of talks this month, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Heinonon has made a number of visits as part of the agency's longstanding efforts to ensure there is no military dimension to the nuclear drive, which some Western states fear could be a cover for a secret weapons project. His trip, which comes ahead of a new IAEA report on Iran expected in September, follows up on August 7 talks in Tehran that Iranian officials described as "positive" but did not give any more details. On Sunday, Iran announced it had fired into space a rocket carrying a dummy satellite, a launch likely to further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear work amid a threat of new UN sanctions. Western governments have warned that the technology used in the Islamic republic's space programme could be diverted to military use, claims denied by Tehran.

"The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and raises further questions about their intentions," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said as US President George W. Bush spent time on his Texas ranch.

"This action and dual use possibilities for their ballistic missile program have been a subject of IAEA discussions and are inconsistent with their UN Security Council obligations," Johndroe said.