0 Persons
8 February 2014 - 22:48

Iran says negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been constructive, saying the two sides will resume talks on Sunday.

The process of talks between Iran and the IAEA is “good, constructive and moving forward” and the two sides will resume their “intense” negotiations on Sunday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Saturday.

He added that the first day of talks which ended on Saturday took nearly five hours, noting that the two sides discussed six issues which were agreed upon in a joint statement signed between Tehran and the IAEA.

Iran is in talks with the IAEA “out of good faith” to help remove “artificial ambiguities” over Tehran’s nuclear energy program as “the Islamic Republic is not legally obliged under the Safeguards [Agreement] to respond to such queries and ambiguities,” he said.

Kamalvandi stated that the IAEA delegation also expressed satisfaction with Iran’s cooperation in implementing the deal with the UN nuclear body. He also expressed hope that the two sides would conclude their negotiations on Sunday.

Iran and the UN nuclear body signed a joint statement in November 2013 to outline a roadmap on bilateral cooperation on certain outstanding issues.

Under the deal, Iran agreed, on a voluntary basis, to allow the IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant and the Gachin uranium mine.

The IAEA Safeguards Agreement does not require Tehran to authorize IAEA inspections of those sites. The voluntary move is a goodwill gesture on the part of Iran to clear up ambiguities over the peaceful nature of its nuclear energy program.
 

News ID 186272