Senior UN nuclear inspectors are expected to visit Iran "quite soon" to discuss their growing concerns about possible military aspects to its nuclear program, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official said on Tuesday, January 10.

Such a trip would come at a time of escalating tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions with European nations preparing for a embargo on Iranian oil and Tehran threatening to retaliate by blocking Gulf oil shipping lanes vital to the global economy.

Iran, which has stoked Western suspicions by starting to enrich uranium inside a mountain bunker, last month said it had renewed an invitation for a special IAEA team to travel to the country, Haaretz reported.