Iran says IAEA visit to Parchin not possible before new agreement is signed

TEHRAN,Jan.20(MNA) – Iran said on Friday that IAEA inspectors will not be allowed to visit the Parchin military site before a new agreement is finalized. “No agreement will be made about… a visit to Parchin before the framework of a (new) modality is finalized during the negotiations,” Iran’s ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told . “Two days of technical and intensive talks were held during which certain disagreements were resolved and some others remained,” Soltanieh said in reference to the meetings held between Iranian and IAEA officials in Tehran on January 16 and 17, during which the sides agreed to hold more talks in Tehran on February 12. The IAEA has called on Iran to sign and implement a structured approach document to resolve the outstanding issues and has stated that gaining access to the Parchin military site, which is located southeast of Tehran, is a priority for the UN nuclear watchdog. The IAEA has claimed that Iran might have been trying to sanitize the Parchin site of any incriminating evidence of explosive tests that would indicate efforts to design nuclear weapons. Iran has dismissed the claim and has made it clear that access to the conventional military site would not be possible before an agreement is reached on the structured approach document. Soltanieh added, “During this round of talks, steps forward were taken, and Iran was ready to continue the negotiations for another day. But (more) talks were set for Bahman 24 (February 12) because two of the IAEA representatives were scheduled to go on a mission in another country.” According to Reuters, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, who headed the eight-member IAEA delegation, said in Vienna on Friday after returning from Tehran, “We could not finalize the structured approach to resolve the outstanding issues.” He gave no further details. And in a note sent to the IAEA member states about the two-day talks, the UN nuclear agency said that “important differences” between the two sides remained, Reuters reported.