Iran nuclear official hopes for understanding with IAEA

Iran’s nuclear agency spokesman said on Saturday that he hoped there will be an understanding with International Atomic Energy Agency chief (IAEA), who is in Tehran for meetings with Iranian officials to settle remaining issues in the nuclear talks.

“It is expected that general issues between us and the agency will be reviewed regarding how to pursue various matters in the future. God willing, there will be an understanding,” Behrouz Kamlavandi told state television.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will also hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian before returning to Vienna in the afternoon, he said.

On Friday, the chief British and French envoys said indirect talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were close to reaching an agreement.

Negotiators have worked for 11 months to try to revive the agreement under which Iran limited its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain fissile material for a bomb — an ambition Tehran denies — in return for relief from economic sanctions.

One wildcard is an effort by the IAEA to resolve questions about nuclear material that the Vienna-based agency suspects Iran failed to declare.

The IAEA has found particles of processed uranium at three apparently old sites that Iran never declared and has repeatedly said Tehran has not provided satisfactory answers.

Grossi arrived in Tehran early on Saturday, Iranian news agencies reported, hoping to agree on a process that would lead to the end of the investigation and potentially clearing a way for the wider deal, diplomats said.