LEAD: IAEA team back from Iran, but "a lot of work" remains

Feb 1, 2012, 10:29 GMT

Vienna - A senior nuclear inspector said Wednesday that Iran is committed to cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but made clear that much work is still required to establish the nature of Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons programme.

'We had three day of intensive discussions about all our priorities,' Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA's chief inspector, said upon his arrival at Vienna airport following a three-day visit to Iran.

His assessment was more muted than that of Iran, where local nuclear officials were quoted by Fars news agency as saying that 'the negotiations between the two sides were held in a positive and constructive atmosphere.'

On its three-day visit, a senior IAEA delegation had sought to work out an agreement with Iran on verifying extensive intelligence information pointing to nuclear weapons development projects.

Nackaerts did not say whether such a work plan had been concluded.

'We are committed to resolve all outstanding issues, and the Iranian said they are committed too,' he told reporters.

'Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done, and so we have planned another trip in the very near future,' he added.

The IAEA officials did not inspect any nuclear sites in Iran, but had discussions with relevant Iranian officials, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Nackaerts and his team were reported to have met Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saedi Jalili, and atomic chief Fereydoun Abbasi.

It was the first time since August 2008 that Iran had engaged with the Vienna-based IAEA on the nuclear weapons allegations.

Tehran says the intelligence information received by the nuclear agency was fabricated and that its nuclear projects are geared only towards electricity generation, science and industrial applications.

The visit by the IAEA team was widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy in the long-running nuclear dispute.

The IAEA's assessment of its mission is expected to clarify whether the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers - Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States - can now resume.

Jalili will reportedly send European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who leads the nuclear talks, a letter offering a date and venue for a next round of talks.

Iran has said it is ready to resume the talks, but the world powers are demanding a clear agenda and want Iran to temporarily suspend uranium enrichment until it can prove that it is not developing a nuclear bomb.

Those conditions have been rejected by Iran.

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