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US and Iranian delegations in nuclear talks
Photo: AP

UN nuke agency chief says 'more work' needed on Iran probe

Russia says more than 90% of agreement complete as negotiators meet into the night in attempt to secure a deal by July 7 deadline.

VIENNA - Hopes dimmed Friday of Iran fulfilling a key US demand at nuclear talks by cooperating with a probe of allegations that it secretly worked on nuclear arms.

 

 

Yukiya Amano, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, said his meetings with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani resulted in a "better understanding on some ways forward," but "more work will be needed." The formulation of his statement was similar to previous ones issued by the IAEA, which has struggled for nearly a decade to resolve its concerns.

 

Amano's trip Thursday to Tehran was significant because it represented his last chance to secure access and cooperation before a July 7 deadline for a long-term nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

 

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano meets with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran (Photo: EPA)
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano meets with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran (Photo: EPA)

 

Iran is in talks with the United States and five other powers - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - on an agreement to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

 

Rouhani also provided no hint of substantial progress. Iran has previously acknowledged some activities like experiments with detonators, but says they had no connection to exploding a nuclear device and were instead developed for industrial purposes.

 

Repeating the standard Iranian line, Rouhani said after meeting Amano that the agency now understands the "pointless allegations" are "baseless."

 

The issue was put on the IAEA front burner four years ago when the agency published an annex of 12 alleged activities it said pointed to nuclear weapons research and development by Iran.

 

A US intelligence assessment published in 2007 raised similar allegations, but said the work ended early last decade. Iran says the suspicions are based on doctored intelligence from Israel, the United States and other adversaries.

 

The UN agency's investigation has gained even more significance as part of the talks that are ongoing in Vienna to crimp Iran's nuclear program for the next decade. At least part of the sanctions relief for Iran under any pact will depend on its full cooperation with the IAEA.

 

Amano said he discussed his agency's monitoring of Iran's commitments under any deal. Backed by the US, the agency seeks pervasive oversight to ensure Tehran doesn't cheat.

 

But a senior Iranian negotiator on Thursday rejected any extraordinary inspection rules.

 

Speaking to reporters in Austria's capital, the official said the IAEA's standard rules governing access to government information, sites of interest and scientists should be sufficient to ensure that Iran's program is solely for peaceful purposes.

 

A senior Iranian official in Vienna said on Thursday that Iran would sign up to an IAEA inspection regime called the Additional Protocol, which would be provisionally implemented at the start of a deal and later ratified by Iran's parliament.

 

The Protocol allows IAEA inspectors increased access to sites where they suspect nuclear activity is taking place, but US officials say it is insufficient because Iran has in the past stalled by dragging out negotiations over access requests.

 

The rules also don't guarantee monitors can enter any facility they want to and offer no specific guidance about sensitive military sites - an issue of particular interest with Iran, given the long-standing allegations of secret nuclear weapons work.

 

The Iranian official said Iran could also agree to a system of "managed access" - which is strictly limited to protect legitimate military or industrial secrets - to relevant military sites. 

 

Nearing a deal? 

"We are coming to the end," said a senior Western diplomat, who added there was no plan to carry on for long past next Tuesday. "Either we get an agreement or we don't," he said, adding that the process "remains quite difficult".

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state television that "a lot of progress has been made, but still various technical issues remain that need the other party's political will".

 

Still, all sides say a deal is within reach. US, European and Iranian officials, including US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takhteravanchi, held a six-hour negotiating session that ended at 3 am on Friday, a senior US official said.

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif meets with Austrian President Fischer and Austrian Foreign Minister Kurz in Vienna (Photo: EPA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif meets with Austrian President Fischer and Austrian Foreign Minister Kurz in Vienna (Photo: EPA)

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Zarif were due to hold a bilateral session on Friday, though that meeting was delayed several times.

 

Russia's chief negotiator Sergei Ryabkov said the text of the agreement was more than 90 percent complete. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi voiced confidence that the parties would reach a mutually acceptable accord.

 

The negotiators missed a June 30 deadline for a final agreement, but have given themselves until July 7, and foreign ministers not already in Vienna are due to return on Sunday for a final push.

 

A deal, if agreed, would require Iran to severely curtail uranium enrichment work for more than a decade to ensure it would need at least one year's "breakout time" to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a single weapon, compared with current estimates of two to three months.

  

Western diplomats said they were not demanding a public confession that Iran had conducted research into building a nuclear warhead, but that the IAEA had to be satisfied it knew the full scope of past Iranian activity to establish a credible basis for future monitoring.

 

Officials close to the Vienna talks say the suspension of some sanctions will be tied to resolving this issue. "It's time to close this chapter," the senior Western diplomat said.

 

Other sticking points include the timing of the suspension of sanctions, and Iranian acceptance of a plan to restore US, European Union and United Nations sanctions if Tehran fails to comply with the terms of the agreement.

 

Another obstacle is Iran's determination to maintain the ability to continue research and development involving advanced centrifuges, machines that spin at supersonic speeds to purify uranium for use in power plants or weapons.

 

Analysts and diplomats say that if Iran runs many advanced centrifuges, this could shorten its breakout time to back under a year again.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.03.15, 21:16
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