Iran, IAEA to hold talks Feb 8

Representatives of Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold talks Feb 8 with the aim of determining the next step of nuclear cooperation between the two sides.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said the talks would be held in Tehran, reported Press TV Friday.

He said Iran's Ambassador to IAEA Reza Najafi and IAEA Deputy Director General Tero Tapio Varjoranta, who is also chief of the department of safeguards, would preside over the talks.

Iran and the IAEA signed a joint statement in November 2013 to outline a roadmap on bilateral cooperation on nuclear issues. Under the deal, Iran agreed to allow the IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant and the Gachin uranium mine.

The IAEA inspectors visited the Arak heavy water plant Dec 8, 2013, as the first step to be implemented under the Iran-IAEA agreement. The IAEA inspectors also made a five-hour visit to the Gachin uranium mine in January.

Kamalvandi said the second round of talks between Iran and the UN nuclear body would focus on discussing Iran's cooperation to respond to the ambiguities the IAEA had raised in the first step of the agreement.