Some progress made at Iran-IAEA meeting: Iranian envoy

TEHRAN,Aug.26(MNA) – Some progress was made during the meeting between Iranian and International Atomic Energy Agency officials, which was held in Vienna on Friday, according to the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA. “Undoubtedly some progress” was made, but differences remained, Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters after the meeting, Reuters reported. “Because it is a very complex issue… issues related to national security of a member state are something very delicate,” the veteran Iranian diplomat said. “But I have to say that we are moving forward… and we are going to continue this process so that we, at the end of the day, will have a framework agreed by both sides,” he added. Before the talks, Soltanieh had said, “Both sides are trying to bridge the gap.” In addition, going into the meeting, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts had told reporters that he wanted to “seek agreement on a structured approach to resolve all the outstanding issues.” “And of course we will also ask Iran where they are with their responses to our requests for access to Parchin and other questions that we have asked Iran,” he stated. The IAEA has said that gaining access to the Parchin military site in southeastern Tehran, where it claims explosives tests relevant for the development of nuclear bombs might have taken place, is a priority for the UN nuclear watchdog. Tehran rejected requests by the IAEA delegations to inspect the Parchin site during their visits to Iran from January 29 to 31 and February 21 to 22 and has made it clear that a framework must be agreed on for any access or visit. After Friday’s talks, Nackaerts issued a media statement, the text of which is as follows: Ladies and gentlemen, As announced by the Director General earlier this week, we met today to continue our discussions with Iran on the clarification of concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program, focusing on its possible military dimensions. As in our last meeting in June, we intended to finalize the structured approach paper that has been under consideration for many months. Today the Agency team came with a constructive spirit and hoped that the few remaining differences in the text could be resolved. The discussions today were intensive, but important differences remain between Iran and the Agency that prevented agreement on this structured approach paper. The team will now inform the Director General, and in a few days he will present his report to the Board of Governors. At the moment we have no plans for a follow-up meeting. [end of the statement] The latest round of talks between Iran and the IAEA was held in Vienna on June 8 in an attempt to seal a framework deal on the arrangements for further investigation into Iran’s nuclear activities. AP reported on Thursday that the UN nuclear agency was forming a special team on Iran.