The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said early on Wednesday that talks held between its inspectors and Iranian authorities in Tehran on the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program ended without progress.
"Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran's nuclear program. Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document," the IAEA said in a statement issued after its team of inspectors concluded talks in the Iranian capital.
A high-level IAEA team, led by its Deputy Director-General Herman Nackaerts, arrived in Tehran on Monday for two days of talks aimed at clarifying the "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear activity.
The five-member team's visit to Iran was the second in less than a month, following its November 2011 report indicating that Iran was aiming to develop atomic weapons under its disputed nuclear program. That visit also ended without a breakthrough in January.
In the course of its two-day visit that ended on Tuesday, the IAEA team was denied permission by Iranian authorities to inspect the Parchin military site, which is believed to be used for explosives testing related to setting off a nuclear weapon. The previous IAEA delegation that visited Iran in January was also denied access to the key military site.
"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin. We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached," IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Although a spokeswoman for the IAEA chief said no agreement was reached on holding further talks with Iran on the issue, Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the country's envoy to the IAEA, as saying that the Islamic Republic would hold more talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Although Iran insists that its uranium enrichment work is aimed at producing fuel for a medical-purpose reactor, the West suspects Tehran's claims are just a cover-up for producing weapon-grade uranium. Nevertheless, Tehran argues that it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes as it is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA.
Iran has already survived four sets of sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council following refusal to halt its uranium enrichment. Analysts believe that Russia and China, both allies of Iran, are unlikely to support further U.N. sanctions against Tehran over the issue.
The oil-rich Middle East country has also been hit by separate sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, Canada and Britain in recent months over its refusal to address international concerns over its disputed nuclear program. The West hopes that the recent sanctions targeting the country's central bank as well as its oil sector will persuade Iran to rejoin the stalled nuclear negotiations with the six world powers.
In response to the latest round of sanctions, Iran threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which about 40 percent of the world's tanker-borne oil is transited. Western nations, including the U.S., responded to the threat by deploying their warships in the Persian Gulf and warned that they would not tolerate any disruption to oil traffic through the strategic waterway.
Tensions have been high in the region ever since media reports speculated that Israel may resort to military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy failed to convince Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program. However, a defiant Iran warned on Tuesday that it would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if its national interests came under threat.
Since the last U.N. sanctions in October 2010, the six world powers have held two rounds of talks with Iran, once in Geneva in December 2010 and later in Istanbul in January 2011. Both negotiations failed to reach any agreements on the issue.
Iran recently said it had accepted a Turkish offer to try and restart the stalled negotiations between Tehran and six world powers, namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, on the disputed nuclear program. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who mediated the two earlier round of talks, is currently studying Iran's offer for further talks on the issue.
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