Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on
Tuesday agreed on a working plan to clarify outstanding ambiguities
over Tehran's nuclear program, a top IAEA official
said.
International Atomic
Energy Agency Deputy Director Olli Heinonen (L) shakes hands with
Javad Vaeedi, Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator, after a joint news
conference in Tehran August 21, 2007.
"We have in front of us an agreed working plan ... (and) agreed
on modalities on how to implement it," IAEA Deputy Director General
Olli Heinonen told a press conference.
He made the remarks after two days of talks between the visiting
IAEA delegation and Iranian negotiators, led by Deputy Secretary of
Supreme National Security Council Javad Vaeedi, over Iran's nuclear
program.
"We have a timeline for the implementation," Heinonen said." We
talked about the details and the steps to be taken." Heinonen said
that details on the working plan would be revealed in an IAEA
report on Iran's nuclear program that is due to be released in two
weeks.
At the same press conference, Vaeedi said that both sides came
up with a working plan on how to address the outstanding issues
over Tehran's nuclear program.
The IAEA delegation arrived in Tehran early Monday for the
third, and final, round of nuclear talks over a working plan.
The first round of the Iran-IAEA talks was held on July 11,
during which the two sides agreed on the IAEA inspectors' visit to
Arak heavy water research reactor.
The second round was held in Vienna on July 24, in which the two
parties set a date for the IAEA inspectors' visit to Arak
facilities. The IAEA inspectors visited the Arak reactor on
July30.
Before then, Iran had blocked inspections from the IAEA to its
nuclear sites since January this year after the UN Security Council
imposed sanctions over the country's controversial nuclear
program.
The Arak reactor, located about 280 km southwest of Iran's
capital, could produce plutonium as a by-product when it is
completed in 2009. Yet plutonium can also be used to make nuclear
bombs.
The US and other Western countries have accused Iran of trying
to develop atomic weapons under a civilian cover, but Iran denies
such accusation, saying it just wants to generate electricity.
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2007)
