New Iran nuclear talks on May 21
Dubai, April 22, 2013
Iran and officials from the UN nuclear watchdog will hold a new round of talks over Iran's disputed nuclear programme on May 21 in Vienna, Iranian media reported on Monday.
The Mehr and ISNA news agencies gave no further details in their reports. The International Atomic Energy Agency press had no immediate comment. Last week, a diplomatic source told Reuters that a meeting in May was a possibility, but that no date had yet been fixed.
It would be the 10th round of negotiations between the two sides since early 2012, so far without a deal that would enable the UN watchdog to resume its long-stalled investigation of Iran's nuclear facilities.
The IAEA wants inspectors to restart a long-stalled investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by the Islamic Republic.
The IAEA-Iran talks are separate from, but still closely linked to, broader diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and six world powers aimed at resolving the decade-old dispute peacefully and preventing a new Middle East war.
Iran denies Western allegations that it is seeking to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons, saying its atomic activities are aimed at generating electricity. But its refusal to curb sensitive nuclear work that can have both civilian and military purposes, and its lack of openness with IAEA inspectors, have drawn United Nations and Western sanctions.
The last round of IAEA-Iran negotiations, in February, yielded no breakthrough. - Reuters
