UN nuke inspector dies in Iran car crash

TEHRAN, Iran -- A UN nuclear inspector from South Korea was killed and a colleague was injured in a car crash yesterday near a reactor site in central Iran, state media and the nuclear watchdog agency said.

State TV said the South Korean inspector was thrown from the car. He was not wearing a seat belt, the report said, quoting police. The two inspectors were riding in the backseat.

The TV showed video of the other inspector in a hospital bed, not seriously injured. It said the driver, who lost control of the car, was also slightly injured. State TV showed video of the heavily damaged vehicle.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement it was in touch with the inspectors' families and Iranian authorities. Iran's official IRNA news agency identified the inspector killed as Seo Ok-Seok from South Korea.

IRNA said the car overturned near a heavy water reactor being built in Khondab, about 150 miles southwest of Tehran.

Iran has said the reactor, part of the Arak complex, will be used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial uses. The United States and others suspect that spent fuel from the reactors could be reprocessed into plutonium for a nuclear warhead. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons.

The incident comes ahead of a new round of technical discussions between Tehran and the IAEA in Vienna next Monday and Tuesday. Higher-level negotiations are planned later this month in Baghdad among envoys from Iran and six nations, including the United States.

Inspectors from the UN's nuclear watchdog agency regularly visit Iran's nuclear facilities, which include a Russian-built energy reactor and uranium enrichment laboratories. -- AP