Iran ex-atomic head says nuclear talks urgent as time runs out

Bloomberg: Time is running out for western powers and Iran to engage in constructive talks over the Persian Gulf country’s nuclear program, a former chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said. Bloomberg

By Ladane Nasseri

Time is running out for western powers and Iran to engage in constructive talks over the Persian Gulf country’s nuclear program, a former chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said.

“We are reaching the end of the game,” Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, who resigned from the agency in July 2009 after leading it for 12 years, told the Islamic Republic News Agency in an interview published today. “Both the Islamic republic and Western nations must enter into serious negotiations.”

President-elect Hassan Rohani last month pledged to bring more transparency to Iran’s nuclear program in a bid to roll back some U.S. and European Union economic sanctions.

Iran and world powers failed to reach an accord after several rounds of nuclear negotiations over the past year. Iran’s interlocutors are calling for a halt in enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity. The Islamic republic says it is entitled to carry out the work and needs the medium-enriched uranium for isotopes to treat cancer patients. The U.S. and its allies say it may further enrich the uranium to create material to build nuclear weapons.

“Iran and the Westerners must win each other’s trust,” Aghazadeh said according to IRNA. “It’s a mutual issue.”

The Atomic Energy Organization was established over three decades ago to supervise Iran’s atomic research. The agency is in charge of planning and logistics of Iranian nuclear activities.