IAEA resumes talks with Iran for access to restricted nuclear sites | WPN World People News

The UN nuclear watchdog Friday resumed talks with Iran to get access to restricted sites where the Islamic republic is suspected to have tested explosives to build atomic warheads, officials of the agency said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to inspect the Parchin military base Tehran, where it believes the explosives testing was done in the past. IAEA inspectors say they were denied access to the Parchin site during two visits to Iran in January and February.

The IAEA's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and deputy director general Rafael Grossi met Iran's envoy to the UN watchdog Ali Asghar Soltanieh to break the logjam.

Iran says Parchin is a conventional military facility and has dismissed the allegations regarding nuclear weapons testing as "ridiculous". Iranian government has said it will work with the IAEA to prove that such allegations are "forged and fabricated".

Amid differences on how the IAEA should conduct its probe, the two sides say significant progress has been made on the "structured approach" document that would set the overall terms for the IAEA's investigation.

Soltanieh smiled at reporters when comments were sought while entering the IAEA's headquarters in the Austrian capital for the meeting.

The talks are separate from the broader dialogue between Iran and six world powers aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The next round of talks is scheduled to resume in Moscow June 18 and 19 after previous discussion in Baghdad ended in a stalemate in May.

Those negotiating with Iran are China, the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

Iran has been denying its nuclear programme is for military usage and maintains it was developing atomic fuel for peaceful civilian purposes.

Media reports citing analysts said the Vienna discussion may offer a clue to Iran's cooperative attitude before the July 1 deadline for tighter sanctions on its oil and banking industries.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday urged his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be "flexible and pragmatic" at the Moscow talks.

Ahmadinejad has also been urged to cooperate with the IAEA.

Source: Europe News.Net