Iran Nuclear NewsIran, IAEA set Aug. 6 talks on nuclear transparency

Iran, IAEA set Aug. 6 talks on nuclear transparency

-

Reuters: Iran will hold a second round of talks with U.N. nuclear watchdog officials in Tehran on Aug. 6 on an “action plan” to defuse suspicions of a covert atom bomb programme, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will hold a second round of talks with U.N. nuclear watchdog officials in Tehran on Aug. 6 on an “action plan” to defuse suspicions of a covert atom bomb programme, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday.

Iran says it aims to produce nuclear fuel for electricity. Western powers are mistrustful, based on Iran’s past concealment of sensitive atomic research and a failure to cooperate fully with U.N. inquiries into the scope of the programme.

After initial talks last month, Tehran allowed International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to revisit the Arak heavy-water site. Tehran had cut off access in April to protest at U.N. sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt atom work.

An IAEA official said the monitors who visited the Arak reactor, which is still under construction, were given full access by Iranian officials and met no obstacles.

“The IAEA team will arrive for further talks on Monday and they will stay for up to six days,” the Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“We will continue to discuss the modalities on how to resolve the outstanding issues with the agency.”

IAEA officials said the focus of the Aug. 6 talks would be steps to improve agency surveillance at the underground Natanz uranium enrichment plant as Iran seeks to shift from a small research-level programme to “industrial scale” production.

Diplomats say inspectors have so far been barred from moving around and taking pictures inside Natanz’s hall of centrifuge enrichment machines, although they have been able to observe whatever is taken in and out of the complex.

IAEA Director Mohamed Elbaradei has said Iran’s pledge to work out an action plan by late August to remove suspicions that it is secretly trying to build atom bombs has raised hope of resolving a festering standoff between Iran and the West.

Tehran has so far rebuffed several U.N. Security Council resolutions engineered by Western powers demanding that it suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities.

The Security Council has slapped two sets of modest sanctions on the Islamic Republic since December.

Iran has threatened to review its cooperation level with the IAEA if a harsher, broader sanctions resolution is enacted.

However, Iran’s promised action plan has led big powers to shelve efforts to toughen sanctions against Iran at least until September.

ElBaradei, arguing against isolating Iran for fear this would kill off inspections, has also cited a slowdown in Iran’s expansion of its uranium enrichment detected by IAEA inspectors during an early July visit to Natanz.

The IAEA and Iran are to have higher-level talks on Aug. 20 in Tehran to tackle the thorniest questions about its programme.

They include the origin of traces of highly enriched — or bomb-grade — uranium found on some equipment, experiments with plutonium, and the status of research into advanced centrifuges that can enrich three times as fast as the model Iran now uses.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

Berlusconi denies saying Obama “weak” on Iran

Reuters: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denied on Saturday...

US criticizes rights abuses in Iran, Russia, China

AP: The United States criticized Iran Tuesday for its...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you