The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El-Baradei, will visit Iran next week as Tehran continues its standoff with the United Nations over its nuclear program, a diplomat with the agency said yesterday. "The IAEA Director General Mohamed El-Baradei will be traveling to Tehran to meet with senior officials for discussions related to outstanding safeguard verification issues and other confidence building measures requested by the IAEA board of governors," the diplomat said.International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors arrived in Iran yesterday to visit the country's uranium enrichment facility and other sites. Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov yesterday expressed confidence that the Iranian nuclear crisis could be solved by diplomatic means.