In his return to Vienna, IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano said the agency will sign an agreement with Iran “quite soon” to allow inspection of its nuclear facilities.
Amano referred to his talks in Iran as an “important development” and indicated that he and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, were determined to reach a deal.
“The decision was made by me and Mr Jalili to reach agreement on the structured approach. An agreement will be signed quite soon” Amano told reporters.
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, while wrapping up his visit to Tehran on Monday, said his talks with Iranian officials were held in a “positive atmosphere.”
Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, also expressed satisfaction over the talks with Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Amano announced last week that he was planning to travel to Iran in person to discuss IAEA expectations around the inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
On Monday, Amano said: “We held expanded and intensive negotiations in a good atmosphere. Definitely, the progress of talks will have a positive impact on negotiations between Iran and G5+1,” Iran’s state television website reported.
Amano was asked to comment on claims that previous IAEA reports had identified Iranian nuclear scientists, leading to assassination attempts. Amano replied that the IAEA is responsible for safeguarding the information it collects, and he will do everything in his power to keep the data classified.
He stressed that he does not personally believe in aggression, and neither does the IAEA.
Over the past two years, there have been at least four assassination attempts against Iranian nuclear scientists, which has left three of them dead. Iranian authorities have accused the IAEA of leaking the names of the scientists.
Amano also emphasized that he is committed to further diplomacy with Iran as the means to resolving the nuclear disputes.
The Iranian nuclear delegation later travelled to Baghdad in preparation for talks with world powers scheduled for Wednesday May 23.
Both sides have described the last round of talks, held in Turkey on April 14, as positive.
