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Iran and IAEA talks conclude in Tehran

RIA Novosti

11/10/2007 17:02

TEHRAN, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - The second round of talks between Iranian leaders and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials over the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program ended on Thursday in Tehran.

A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency, headed by Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen, arrived in Tehran early on Tuesday. The parties subsequently held some 13 hours of negotiations. The results of the meetings have yet to be announced.

The first round of negotiations on Iran's uranium enrichment centrifuges was held on September 24-25, and involved teams of nuclear power experts.

Iran currently has around 3,000 functional enrichment centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear research center. The country's leaders previously said that they intend to install 50,000 centrifuges at Natanz in a bid to make the country independent of nuclear fuel imports.

Iran has defied three consecutive UN resolutions against its nuclear program since last year and has called two previously-imposed rounds of sanctions illegal. The country's leadership rejects Western allegations that the program is geared towards creating atomic weapons, and has insisted that uranium enrichment will continue.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, said last Thursday that the international community should give Iran more time to prove that its nuclear program has exclusively civilian goals.

"This situation, which might continue for two or three months, is an investment in peace," ElBaradei said in an interview with Egyptian daily al-Ahram.

In mid-September, the six countries involved in talks to persuade Iran to drop uranium enrichment delayed a vote on a new set of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, now set to be held by November. The vote was postponed pending reports from the IAEA, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The six nations involved in the talks are China, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The U.S. and France have urged tougher penalties against Iran.

Since talks early this summer between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Tehran has allowed two inspections of its 40-MW heavy water nuclear reactor in Arak, potentially capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. Iran had earlier refused to grant access to the site following the second set of international sanctions in March.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the international community to wait for the UN watchdog to provide its report on Iran's controversial nuclear program before taking any action.

"Until the IAEA reports what is happening in Iran ... any radical measures would be irresponsible," Lavrov said on October 10.

The minister also said that disputes should be settled based on UN resolutions, rather than via political pressure and sanctions.