Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced today that it will hold another round of talks with Iran on June 8.
Reuters reports that Amano announced the scheduled meeting in a speech at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting, adding: “I invite Iran to sign and implement the Structured Approach document as soon as possible and to provide early access to the Parchin site,” referring to a military base near Tehran.
Amano travelled to Iran on May 21 to meet with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, after which he announced that the agency would soon sign an agreement with Iran.
The agreement will reportedly establish the method and approaches for the IAEA’s inspection of Iranian nuclear sites.
Amano stressed: “I was assured that agreement on the structured approach would be expedited and that the remaining differences between Iran and the agency would not be an obstacle to reaching agreement.”
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog went on to urge Iran “to take steps towards the full implementation of all relevant obligations in order to establish international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme."
Iran has insisted on an agreement to set the framework of its cooperation with the IAEA before allowing further inspection of Iranian sites, especially the Parchin Military Base, which has recently become a point of IAEA concern.
IRNA reported that Iran’s permanent envoy to the IAEA said that Amano’s trip to Iran has begun a “new chapter” in terms of cooperation between the Islamic Republic and the IAEA.
