Talks with Iran 'Constructive': IAEA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it had a "constructive exchange" this week with Iran on two issues related to its nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) investigation runs parallel to talks between Tehran and six world powers over Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
The IAEA, which held technical talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Wednesday, said the two sides would meet again soon, without giving a date, Reuters reported.
The UN nuclear watchdog had said it expected progress this month on the two outstanding issues, which are related to the nature of neutron calculations and alleged experiments on high explosives.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi also said that Tehran and the IAEA have come up with solutions to a number of existing issues.
In the meeting with IAEA delegate, some solutions were found regarding complicated issues remaining from previous years, Najafi said, adding that two topics still need further discussions in the next meeting.
The IAEA delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks on how to proceed with a framework of cooperation that Iran and the UN nuclear agency signed in November 2013.
According to Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), the purpose of the visit was to hold talks on the Joint Statement on a Framework for Cooperation, which outlines a roadmap on mutual cooperation on certain outstanding nuclear issues between Iran and the IAEA.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UNSC members plus Germany) are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program.
On April 2, they reached a framework nuclear agreement after more than a week of intensive negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
