File picture
Vienna:
New talks with Iran failed to result in a deal allowing greater access to its contested nuclear programme, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday.
"There has been no progress," the International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts told journalists after a day of talks with Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
"Iran raised issues that we have already discussed and added new ones. This is disappointing," he said, reading out a prepared statement at a joint briefing with Mr Soltanieh.
"A date for a follow-on meeting has yet to be fixed," he added, noting that the agency had come to the meeting "with the desire and intention of finalising the paper."
The Iranian envoy meanwhile insisted that Tehran was dedicated to alleviating fears about its nuclear drive.
"We are ready to remove all ambiguities and prove to the world that our activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes and none of these allegations (of seeking a bomb) are true," he told the media.
"But we need time and patience and a quiet environment" for talks.
"Therefore let Iran and the IAEA do their work," he appealed, noting that there was nothing to prevent a deal from still being reached.
"There is no obstacle... we'll continue" to work at an accord, he said.
The IAEA has been seeking a deal with Iran that would allow greater access to sites, people and documents tied to Tehran's nuclear programme.
This includes access to the Parchin military base near Tehran, where the IAEA believes suspicious explosives testing was carried out before 2003 and possibly after that.
Mr Soltanieh however dismissed the recent focus on Parchin as politisation by Western countries.
"Whoever raises the issue of Parchin or other sites which is going to be dealt with in this framework... is just creating a negative environment and this is not advisable and this is not conducive," he complained to journalists.
Western powers believe Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon but Iran insists its programme is entirely peaceful.
"There has been no progress," the International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts told journalists after a day of talks with Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
"Iran raised issues that we have already discussed and added new ones. This is disappointing," he said, reading out a prepared statement at a joint briefing with Mr Soltanieh.
"A date for a follow-on meeting has yet to be fixed," he added, noting that the agency had come to the meeting "with the desire and intention of finalising the paper."
The Iranian envoy meanwhile insisted that Tehran was dedicated to alleviating fears about its nuclear drive.
"We are ready to remove all ambiguities and prove to the world that our activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes and none of these allegations (of seeking a bomb) are true," he told the media.
"But we need time and patience and a quiet environment" for talks.
"Therefore let Iran and the IAEA do their work," he appealed, noting that there was nothing to prevent a deal from still being reached.
"There is no obstacle... we'll continue" to work at an accord, he said.
The IAEA has been seeking a deal with Iran that would allow greater access to sites, people and documents tied to Tehran's nuclear programme.
This includes access to the Parchin military base near Tehran, where the IAEA believes suspicious explosives testing was carried out before 2003 and possibly after that.
Mr Soltanieh however dismissed the recent focus on Parchin as politisation by Western countries.
"Whoever raises the issue of Parchin or other sites which is going to be dealt with in this framework... is just creating a negative environment and this is not advisable and this is not conducive," he complained to journalists.
Western powers believe Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon but Iran insists its programme is entirely peaceful.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
