Iran, IAEA agree to meet again on Feb. 12

TEHRAN,Jan.19(MNA) – Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency ended two days of talks in Tehran on Thursday and agreed to hold more talks on February 12. The Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, headed the Iranian delegation, and IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts was the head of the IAEA delegation. Upon arrival in Vienna on Friday, Nackaerts said that “differences remain,” and no deal was reached, according to the Associated Press. The previous round of talks between the agency and Iran had been held in Tehran on December 13, 2012. 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. However, Iran has dismissed the claim, calling it “baseless”. Tehran rejected requests by IAEA delegations to inspect the Parchin site during their visits to Iran in January and February 2012 and has made it clear that access to the site would not be possible before an agreement is reached on the structured approach document.