U.N. chief weapons inspector visits Iran to talk nukes
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog is traveling to Iran on Wednesday to talk to President Hassan Rouhani about his nation's past nuclear activities and suspected weapons work.
Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will meet with Rouhani and other senior Iranian officials Thursday, according to an IAEA statement.
"Discussions are expected to address ongoing cooperation between the IAEA and the Islamic Republic of Iran" in accordance with a framework agreement signed in April, the statement said. They will also talk about "how to accelerate the resolution of all outstanding issues related to Iran's nuclear program, including clarification of possible military dimensions."
Iran's stonewalling on some questions and its leaders' pledges not to allow international inspectors to question scientists and engineers involved in current and past nuclear work has become one of the main sticking points to reaching an agreement with world powers on curbing Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.
Amano's trip comes as Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, at a hotel in Vienna to continue seeking an agreement on an elusive nuclear accord. U.S. and Iranian negotiators agreed Tuesday to extend the talks to July 7.
The IAEA reported Wednesday that Iran has been meeting its commitments under a preliminary agreement that set the stage for the current talks in Austria, the Associated Press reported. Under that November 2013 plan, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program and convert its stockpiles of near bomb-grade nuclear fuel to a form that would require more processing for such use.
U.S. officials and other allies fear oil-rich Iran's nuclear program has an eventual purpose of developing the capacity to produce a bomb, and the negotiations in Vienna are aimed at ensuring the program remains as peaceful as Iran claims it is.
In a statement after Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement in April, Iran said it would allow the IAEA "enhanced access through agreed procedures, including to clarify past and present issues."
But since then, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has ruled out providing access to scientists and engineers as well as to military sites, where the IAEA says it has evidence weapons work had been conducted.
