Representatives from the IAEA and Iran met in Vienna to talk about the Islamic state’s nuclear program prior to its meeting in Baghdad between the six members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
The last meeting held between the two parties in February was not enough to draft an agreement. This time around, the IAEA asked for access to people, documents and sites to be permitted by Iran. There are suspicions that Iran is using the Parchin military base to perform tests after leaks claimed that nuclear fuse tests are being held there.
Satellite images have also distinguished what is said to be an abnormal activity at the military site in the past months. There are believes that Iran is trying to slow down the IAEA and get rid of the evidences before letting them in.
Iran described claims that it is washing away its nuclear evidence as “childish”. The President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has asked the West “to correct its manner”. Previous demands to visit the Parchin military base during past talks were turned down.
The Vienna meeting lasted for hours and it will continue on Tuesday. There were no official statements from both parties after the meeting. The IAEA has expressed concern that Iran has failed to co-operate with its inspectors and has carried out activities “relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device”.
The Iraq talks are a week away and the spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry has called upon participants to maintain the same environment they had in Ankara to forge the way forward because Iran will not be amused by “pressure and preconditions”.
Iran: No “pressure and preconditions”
