Iran: talks with IAEA off to good start

Iran: talks with IAEA “constructive”
15 May, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Iran’s talks with the UN nuclear watchdog about Tehran’s atomic program are going well, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, the second day of discussions.

The talks will test Iran’s readiness to address UN inspectors’ concerns over military links to its nuclear work, ahead of wider diplomatic talks on the program’s future in Baghdad next week between Tehran and world powers.

The nuclear watchdog aims at the Vienna talks to gain access to Iranian sites, documents and officials involved in suspected research activity that could be used to develop atomic bombs.

“We had good talks. Everything is (on the) right track. The environment is very constructive,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters as he entered an Iranian diplomatic mission for talks with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA, the UN agency tasked with preventing the spread of nuclear arms in the world, has made clear that its priority is to visit the military site.

Iran, which rejects Western accusations it seeks nuclear arms, has resisted requests by the IAEA to go to the Parchin complex southeast of Tehran. The issue was expected to be raised during the talks in Vienna.

Iran’s state television said Monday’s talks have “been evaluated as positive”. It did not elaborate.

Israel, the Middle East’s only nuclear power, and the United States have not ruled out military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities if diplomacy fails to achieve this goal peacefully.

Iran, for its part, has criticized Western double standards toward Israel, which has avoided international scrutiny over its nuclear arsenal due to its privileged status as a US ally.

An IAEA report last November found that Iran had built a large containment vessel in 2000 at the Parchin site in which to conduct tests that the UN agency said were “strong indicators of possible (nuclear) weapon development.” …more