IAEA says Iran nuclear deal reached - FT.com
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.The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he had reached a deal with Iran on investigating its suspected nuclear weapons programme, in a confidence-building measure ahead of crucial talks between Tehran and six world powers this week.
Yukiya Amano, director-general of the UN body, said on Tuesday that a "decision was made to conclude and sign the agreement"‰..."‰I can say it will be signed quite soon". Speaking in Vienna after returning from Tehran, where he had held talks with Saeed Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Mr Amano added that a few details needed to be resolved but these would not block progress.
Iranian officials have not yet commented on the prospect of a deal between Tehran and the IAEA. State television, however, said it was not clear how Mr Amano could make his comments since the two sides had reached "no conclusion over an imminent agreement" in their talks in Tehran on Monday.
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The IAEA is asking Iran to allow it access to a military complex at Parchin, 18 miles southwest of Tehran, where it may have conducted high-explosive tests of components for an atomic weapon. Iran has until now declined IAEA requests to visit the facility.
A senior western diplomat preparing for the talks in Baghdad said it was important that Iran assisted the IAEA in its investigation into whether Tehran has sought to build a nuclear weapon. "Any progress here would be good and would help get Baghdad discussions off to a good start," the diplomat said.
However, the diplomat said the critical question this week would be whether Iran and the P5+1 could move towards the first in a series of incremental deals that would see Tehran freeze and scale back its nuclear programme in return for concessions from the outside world. In particular, the six powers will want Iran to halt the high-grade enrichment of uranium, bringing the creation of a nuclear weapon closer.
Also on Tuesday, Iran said it had delivered two batches of domestically made nuclear fuel to a research reactor, a move that if confirmed would undermine a possible deal under which the country would send enriched uranium abroad in exchange for such fuel, reducing its stockpile of potential atomic bomb material.