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Iran and IAEA to continue nuclear talks next week
TEHRAN
Petroleumworld.com 10 12 07Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog wrapped up two-days of talks on Tehran's controversial enrichment programme Thursday and will meet again next week, the semi-offical Mehr news agency reported.
"It was agreed to continue these meetings at the level of experts next week," deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Javad Vaidi, was quoted as saying.
"The two sides were satisfied with the process of the negotiations and their continuation," said Vaidi, who headed the Iranian negotiators in talks with officials from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The technical negotiations, which began on Tuesday, focused on P1 and P2 type centrifuges.
The IAEA is seeking details on how Iran obtained components for its P1 type centrifuges, of which more than 2,000 are in operation at its nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz, and on its research with the more efficient P2 model.
The talks follow an agreement reached in August for Tehran to provide answers to outstanding questions over its nuclear programme including plutonium experiments.
Much of the West, headed by the United States, charge that Tehran is working secretly to obtain nuclear weapons. Iran strongly denies this, saying its work is to achieve nuclear power to generate electricity, to which it has the right.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday lashed out at major powers involved in Tehran's nuclear dispute.
"Bullying powers should let the agency do its legal activity," the president said, referring to Iran's nuclear authorities.
"The Iranian nation is ready for dialogue with everybody about different issues of the world but it will not back down on its absolute right in the nuclear issue, not even one iota," warned Ahmadinejad.
He also played down the Western pressure on Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
"We will not give in to blackmail ... Bullying powers make a lot of noise and propaganda against Iran but they can not do any harm."
IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradei recently urged Iran to cooperate actively on answering the outstanding questions, warning that failure would leave it open to renewed pressure.
Tehran has been slapped with two sets of UN sanctions for refusing to freeze uranium enrichment, a process that creates nuclear fuel but can also make the core of an atomic bomb.
The IAEA and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana are due to report to the UN Security Council and the major powers next month.
The agency's report is on Iran's level of cooperation and Solana is due to give an assessment of Tehran's willingness to give up enrichment in exchange for political and trade incentives.
The major powers, split over whether to impose further sanctions, have said they will await the reports before deciding what action to take.
Story by AFP 11 1609 GMT 10 07
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