The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday suspended nearly half of the technical aid it was providing Iran, carrying out sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council because Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment program.As the agency's director general issued the report to his 35-nation board, Iran's top nuclear negotiator reversed course on a decision to stay away from a security conference in Germany. After telling organizers earlier Friday that he would not attend for health reasons, the negotiator, Ali Larijani, said in the evening that he would go to Munich, said Klaus Treude, a spokesman for the conference.
Treude said he had no details on why Larijani had changed his mind. Larijani has said he planned to use the conference as an opportunity to talk about Iran's nuclear program.
Senior officials expected at the conference include the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; the Russian president, Vladimir Putin; and the U.S. defense secretary, Robert Gates.
The atomic agency, an arm of the United Nations based in Vienna, had already suspended aid to Iran in five instances last month under the sanctions. On Friday, the agency fully or partly suspended an additional 18 projects that it deemed could also be misused for nuclear weapons.