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IRAN
U.N. team arrives; Obama makes calls
A team of U.N. inspectors went to Iran on Saturday to visit a recently revealed nuclear site amid new efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency experts are slated to examine an unfinished uranium-enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom to verify that it is for peaceful purposes. Disclosure of its existence last month raised international suspicion over the extent and aim of the country's nuclear program.
Iran insists that its nuclear program serves to generate power and denies allegations that it is trying to make nuclear weapons. Tehran asked for more time Friday to consider a U.N.-backed plan to ship much of its uranium to Russia for enrichment. And on Saturday, Iran's parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, accused the West of trying to "cheat and impose their will on" Iran, raising further doubts about the likelihood that Tehran will approve the deal.
In Washington on Saturday, President Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to ask them to reaffirm their commitment to the plan.
The White House said Obama thanked Sarkozy and Medvedev for their help in addressing the issue and added that both presidents affirmed their full support for the proposal.
-- Associated Press
NORTH KOREA
Senior official meets with U.S. diplomat
A U.S. diplomat met Saturday with North Korea's second-ranking official involved in stalled six-country nuclear negotiations, a move that could be a step toward reconvening the talks.
A State Department spokesman said North Korean Ambassador Ri Gun met in New York with Sung Kim, the State Department's North Korea desk chief and a special envoy to the six-party talks that involve South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
