Tehran , Iran ( CNN ) -- United Nations-backed nuclear inspectors on Sunday visited a newly disclosed Iranian nuclear facility near the city of Qom , Iranian media has reported . `` IAEA inspectors today visited the ... nuclear installation , '' the semi-official Mehr news agency said , referring to International Atomic Energy Agency staff . `` The IAEA inspectors arrived Saturday night and are scheduled to inspect the ... site several times . The inspectors will leave Tehran Tuesday . '' Tehran sent shock waves through the international community in September by revealing the existence of the previously secret nuclear enrichment facility near Qom . The IAEA announced Saturday its inspectors were leaving for the much-anticipated inspection . The agency declined to give more details on Sunday . `` It is our policy not to comment on the itinerary of our inspectors , '' a spokesman for the U.N. nuclear watchdog told CNN . The inspectors will visit the installation to make sure it is being used for peaceful purposes , said Ali Akbar Salehi , the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran , according to the Islamic Republic News Agency . The inspection comes after Iran said Friday that it needs more time to decide whether to sign onto a deal that could help end the international showdown over its nuclear activities . That proposal calls for low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to be sent abroad for further enrichment and then returned for use in medical research and treatment . Tehran is studying the draft proposal and will have an answer next week , Iranian diplomat Ali Asghar Soltanieh said on state-run Press TV . Iran informed IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei that it is `` considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light , but it needs until the middle of next week to provide a response , '' according to an IAEA statement . Delegations from Iran , France , Russia , the United States and the IAEA met in Vienna this week to work out details of the tentative deal reached in early October . France , Russia and the United States have indicated their approval of the arrangement . `` The Director General hopes that Iran 's response will equally be positive , since approval of this agreement will signal a new era of cooperation , '' the IAEA statement said . After the current inspection , but before the end of the month , Iranian officials are expected to meet with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain , China , France , Russia and the United States -- plus Germany to further discuss Tehran 's nuclear program . Iran 's leaders maintain that their nation 's nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes , but many in the West believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities . Low-enriched nuclear fuel can be further enriched into weapons-grade material . CNN 's Per Nyberg contributed to this report .
The IAEA announced Saturday its inspectors were leaving for the inspection . Iran said Friday it needs more time to decide whether to sign onto a nuclear deal . Iran says its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes . Many in the West believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities .