Negotiations between Iranian officials and an IAEA delegation kicked off in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon.
The two sides scheduled the talks to devise a 60-day plan to clear up the remaining ambiguities about Iran’s nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency delegation, which is led by agency deputy director Olli Heinonen, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues between Iran and the IAEA.
The IAEA delegation also includes Director for Safeguards Operations Herman Nackaerts, Legal Advisor and Director of the Office of External Relations and Policy Coordination Vilmos Cserveny, and legal advisor Johan Rautenbach.
Javad Vaeedi, the deputy secretary for international security affairs of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Deputy Director Mohammad Saeidi, Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, and some other officials from the Foreign Ministry and the AEOI are the members of Iran’s negotiating team.
The current talks in Tehran is a follow-up to a meeting between the SNSC secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on June 22 in Vienna in which Iran agreed to answer all remaining questions about its nuclear program.
Positive influence
The negotiations could pave the way for future talks between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Larijani on Iran’s nuclear program, MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said on Wednesday. Falahatpisheh, who is a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Mehr News Agency, “The various proposals presented by the UN Security Council are sufficient proof that the West is going to accept the emergence of a ‘nuclear Iran’.”
In a separate interview with MNA on Wednesday, international affairs expert Yusef Molaii said Iran-IAEA negotiations would have a “positive influence” on efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute. Such diplomatic measures could thwart Washington’s efforts to completely isolate Iran, he observed, adding, “The two negotiating parties need to lower their expectations in order to reach a consensus.”
