UN nuclear watchdog agency announces upcoming visit to Iran

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that its inspectors will visit Iran’s Arak reactor early next week, ahead of further talks planned for next month.

The announcement came yesterday in Vienna after discussions between senior IAEA officials and an Iranian delegation as part of efforts to resolve outstanding issues pertaining to the country’s past nuclear programme and to clarify safeguards implementation issues.

IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Olli Heinonen told reporters that during the August meeting, the agency will discuss plutonium contamination and other outstanding issues.

“In the weeks to come, we will then talk about other outstanding issues that are related to Iran’s enrichment programme,” he said.

Javad Vaeedi, head of the Iranian delegation and Under-Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Council, said that during yesterday’s meeting, “good discussions were held and constructive progress was made.”