Five inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday, the state television said.

These inspectors, who arrived in Tehran on Friday, will visit the uranium enrichment plant in the central town of Natanz and the uranium conversion facility in the central city of Isfahan, Iran's deputy nuclear chief Mohammad Saeedi was quoted as saying.

The IAEA inspectors' visit is within the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) framework, he added.

Tehran has stopped the UN nuclear watchdog' snap inspections since the agency voted to report Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council early February.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Tuesday that the inspectors would not be able to carry out snap inspections on the country's nuclear facilities because Iran "is not currently enforcing the additional protocol of the NPT".

Similarly, Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh said on Monday that the upcoming inspections would be taking place on the basis of the NPT.

Also on Saturday, the official IRNA news agency quoted an anonymous source as saying that the IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei is arriving in Tehran within the next two days.

ElBaradei's upcoming visit will take place within the framework of Iran's cooperation and consultations with the IAEA, said the source.

The IAEA chief will hold talks with "certain Iranian nuclear officials" and discuss remaining issues in Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, the source added

The IAEA on March 8 handed over files of the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council in accordance with the agency's resolution on Feb. 4.

As a result, the powerful world body urged Iran to resume suspension of all activities related to uranium enrichment in 30 days in a non-binding presidential statement adopted on March 29.

Iran has denounced the involvement of the Security Council, vowing never to give in to pressures and bullies.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, but Iran rejects the charge, saying its nuclear program is for fully peaceful purposes and it will never give up its right to peaceful nuclear technology enshrined in the NPT.

Source: Xinhua