The new head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukia Amano, is in Israel on his first visit as Iran races to increase its uranium enrichment activities. Amano's flight arrived Monday at Ben Gurion International Airport.
A fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran approved in June by the U.N. Security Council, plus additional sanctions imposed individually by various Western nations, have done little to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear development program.
On Saturday Iranian scientists began loading Russian-supplied fuel rods into the Bushehr nuclear reactor, which was also built with the assistance of Moscow.
It is expected that Jerusalem will raise Israel's concerns about the Iranian race for nuclear capability with Amano. Israeli intelligence officials, along with those from other Western nations, including the United States, believe that Iran is intent on building an atomic weapon, despite denials from Tehran.
A spokesperson for President Shimon Peres told The Associated Press the president is scheduled to meet with Amano on Wednesday.
Relations between Israel and the international atomic watchdog agency were chilly during the tenure of its prior head, Egyptian government opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei. A number of other member nations have attempted to pressure Israel to ink its signature to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would force the Jewish State to reveal the details of its nuclear arsenal.
Israel, as India, has declined to join, and remains silent on exactly what type of nuclear armaments – if any – it possesses. Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama assured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that a proposed 2012 conference aimed at promoting a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East would not single out Israel.