UN nuclear chief calls Iran’s talks positive

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran on Monday saying he has a “positive” attitude about his upcoming discussions with Iranian officials.

“There has been good progress during the recent rounds of discussions between Iran and IAEA. So I thought that now is the right time…to visit Iran and have direct talks with high officials of Iran…to reach agreement…I stay positive,” Yukiya Amano said at airport in Vienna on Sunday. Iranian and IAEA delegations met in the Austrian capital last week.

The visit came as Tehran prepares to engage with world powers in crucial talks in Baghdad over its nuclear program.

“There has been good progress during the recent rounds of discussions between Iran and IAEA. So I thought that now is the right time … to visit Iran and have direct talks with high officials of Iran,” he added. But he added: “This visit is very short, and I’m not an inspector.”

Amano’s delegation included his chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and number two Rafael Mariano Grossi. They were expected to meet Iran’s atomic chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

Salehi was quoted Sunday as welcoming the visit as a “good omen”, saying it presented an opportunity for Iran to reset relations with the IAEA. Iran hopes the visit will lead to an accord on how to resolve disputes over the IAEA monitoring nuclear activities and draw up “a new modality to answer (IAEA) questions and clear up ambiguities”, Salehi said.