Dubai - Iran said it had agreed on “some points” in talks with the UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday and that the two sides would meet again, Iranian media reported, indicating that they had again failed to finalise a long-sought deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had hoped to bridge persistent differences with Iran preventing the Vienna-based UN agency from restarting a stalled investigation into suspected nuclear weapons research by Tehran.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, suggested in comments to Iranian media that some progress had been made in the meeting in Tehran, without giving details.
There was no immediate comment from the IAEA.
“In addition to removing some differences and agreeing on some points in the text... the two sides decided to review and exchange views about the new proposals that were given in this meeting, in the next meeting,” Soltanieh said, according to Fars news agency.
Press TV, Iran's English-language state broadcaster, cited Soltanieh as saying that remaining differences would be discussed in the next Iran-IAEA meeting, without giving a date.
Western diplomats accredited to the IAEA earlier said they did not expect any breakthrough in the talks in the Iranian capital.
The Islamic Republic denies Western allegations that its nuclear energy programme is geared to developing the capability to produce atomic bombs. Iran says it is stockpiling enriched uranium only for civilian energy purposes. - Reuters