Further Progress Achieved in Talks with Iran: IAEA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it has achieved further progress in its Monday talks with Iranian officials, but at the same time noted that still more work has to be done.
Senior officials from the IAEA have made "further progress" in meetings in Tehran, but more work will be needed to resolve outstanding issues between the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran, the IAEA said in a Tuesday statement.
"A team of senior IAEA officials held constructive talks in Tehran on Monday on ways forward to resolve all outstanding issues," the agency said.
"It was a follow-up meeting to the visit of IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano to Iran on July 2," it added.
"Further progress was achieved in Monday's discussions with senior Iranian officials, but more work is still needed. The IAEA and Iran will continue their dialogue."
Earlier on Thursday, Amano paid a one-day visit to Iran and met with President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani.
"The purpose of the visit was to advance work towards the resolution of all outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program, including clarification of possible military dimensions," he said in a statement after the trip to Iran.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) have been negotiating over the past 22 months to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's civilian nuclear program once and for all.
They are busy negotiating in Vienna to clinch a comprehensive nuclear deal. Last week, the parties gave themselves an extra days beyond an end-June deadline to nail down details of the long-awaited accord.
Earlier on Monday, a source familiar with the negotiations said the final deadline for the comprehensive accord could fall on late Wednesday or the early hours of Thursday, July 9.
