Iran

Iran, IAEA officials to hold fresh talks in Vienna on May 15

Iran, IAEA officials

The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the Islamic Republic and the United Nations nuclear agency will hold a new round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear energy programs next month, Press TV reports.

Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told Press TV on Tuesday that the two sides will meet at the headquarters of Iran’s mission to the IAEA in the Austrian capital Vienna on May 15.

The Iranian ambassador also said that the IAEA’s delegation will be headed by Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts.

The upcoming negotiations are expected to be held at a technical level. Iran and the IAEA have already met for nine rounds of talks since late 2011. The two sides last met in Tehran in mid-February.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the European Union using the false claim as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions against Iran.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

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