IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Vienna on Sunday that
Iran and the IAEA reached consensus to complete the implementation
of the workplan agreed between the IAEA Secretariat and Iran in
August 2007 in the next four weeks.
She said that during Elbaradei's meetings with Iranian senior
officials, including supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei and
President Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad, the two sides discussed the "ways
and means to accelerate implementation of safeguards in Iran as
well as additional confidence building measures."
She pointed out that an agreement was reached on the
implementation of all the remaining vague issues specified in the
workplan, and according to the agreed schedule, implementation of
the workplan should be completed in the next four weeks.
The two sides also discussed the importance of the
implementation of the Additional Protocol and other confidence
building measures called for by the United Nations Security
Council, she added, and Iran also provided information on its
research and development activities on a new generation of
centrifuges.
Some diplomats in Vienna pointed out that Iran's new attitude
could be help ease the international pressure of new sanction on
Iran, while some other diplomats believed that it was inauthentic,
and a British diplomat even insist on putting more pressure on
Iran.
The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear
weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, which Iran
has denied. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes only.
The U.N. Security Council has adopted two resolutions - one in
December 2006 and the other in March 2007 - to force Iran to
suspend uranium enrichment activities and to give up its nuclear
programs.
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2008)
