Representatives of Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are set to hold talks next week with the aim of determining the next step of cooperation between the two sides.On Thursday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said that the talks between the two sides will be held on February 8 in Tehran.
He further noted that Irans Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi and IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Tero Tapio Varjoranta will preside over the talks.
The spokesman added the talks are scheduled for one day and can be extended if the two sides wish to continue negotiations.
Iran and the IAEA signed a joint statement in November 2013 to outline a roadmap on bilateral cooperation on certain outstanding issues. Under the deal, Iran agreed, on a voluntary basis, to allow IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant and the Gachin uranium mine.
The UN nuclear agencys inspectors visited the Arak heavy water plant on December 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 southern Iran in late January.
The agency's safeguards agreement does not require Tehran to authorize IAEA inspections of those sites. The voluntary move is a goodwill gesture on the part of Iran to clear up ambiguities over the peaceful nature of its nuclear energy program.
Kamalvandi said the second round of talks between Iran and the UN atomic body will focus on discussing Irans voluntary cooperation to respond to the ambiguities the IAEA had raised in the first step of the agreement.
He added that the future trend of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will be determined in the second phase of the negotiations.
By Press TV
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