Roundup: Iran to "expedite" cooperation with UN nuclear watch dog

Iran is going to speed up the cooperation with the UN nuclear agency, an Iranian senior negotiator said here on Tuesday, noting the past weekend's P5+1 talks in Geneva made some headway but there was still a "long way to go."

After meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Yukiya Amano, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told reporters here that his country had decided to expedite the cooperation with IAEA and solve the unresolved issues of the Iranian nuclear program.

"We were able to review the course of cooperation between Iran and the agency and we decided to expedite that cooperation, acknowledging the important role of the agency in any future possible agreement between Iran and the P5+1," Araqchi told reporters after his meeting with the IAEA chief.

For their part, the IAEA said in a press statement after the meeting: "Today's meeting was useful and facilitated a better understanding between the two sides. The discussions focused on the need to resolve, as soon as possible, all outstanding issues related to Iran's nuclear program."

IAEA also noted both sides recognized the "importance of continuing the dialogue."

Last week, a confidential IAEA report said there hadn't been substantial progress made in verifying the unresolved outstanding issues of Tehran's nuclear plan, and the agency had been asking Iran to clarify some "outstanding issues" of its atomic plan for years.

Western states want Iran, together with the IAEA, to sort out all the unresolved issues of its nuclear program to meet the concerns of those involved.

Both sides are striving hard to strike a political framework by a self-imposed deadline by the end of March. Endit