TEHRAN—The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog called at talks in Tehran on Friday for swifter cooperation in resolving questions about its nuclear program, which the West fears will be used to produce atomic bombs.
"I discussed with (Iran's atomic energy chief) how we can work together to accelerate the pace of our cooperation to clarify all outstanding issues before my report in March," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said.
He said the talks—rare high-level diplomacy in Tehran to help defuse Iran's stalemate with world powers over its disputed nuclear ambitions—were "frank and friendly ... and I'm looking forward to an environment of accelerated cooperation".
"I asked Mr (Gholamreza) Aghazadeh to give us maximum transparency and provide assurances about all present nuclear activities," ElBaradei told reporters.
"If we are able to clarify past and current activities, it will provide an atmosphere to overcome the standoff between the P5+1 and Iran," he added, referring to the six world powers who sponsored U.N. sanctions to curb Iran's nuclear program.
ElBaradei will meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Saturday, before returning to Vienna.
Aghazadeh said the IAEA could be assured of full cooperation and added: "Tomorrow during (ElBaradei's) meeting with the leader (Khamenei) there will be an extremely important exchange of information". He did not elaborate.
The Vienna-based IAEA has long sought to verify Iran's uranium enrichment program is geared solely to producing civilian energy, not atomic bombs as Western powers suspect.
Aghazadeh called the first talks "very good and comprehensive" and predicted ElBaradei would be able to give a final report on its four-year-old Iran inquiry to the agency's 35-nation board of governors in March.
'New Phase'
"Now we have entered a new phase and my suggestion is to create such an atmosphere that all issues can be resolved," he said. "It requires a political will and my suggestion to all parties is to use this opportunuty for resolving the issues."
A diplomat close to the IAEA said before ElBaradei's visit that an IAEA inquiry stonewalled by Iran for years until August had entered a final phase with Iran addressing U.S. intelligence about past, covert attempts to "weaponise" atomic material.
Iran said in August it would answer outstanding questions in sequence about its nuclear past but an end-of-year target mooted by ElBaradei for completing the process passed with the most sensitive issues still unresolved.
The Tehran talks coincide with a Middle East tour by U.S. President George W. Bush, who has called Iran a "threat to world peace" and is seeking Arab support to rein in Iran. Tehran dismisses U.S. charges and says its nuclear plans are peaceful.
The IAEA says Iran cannot be judged in the clear on nuclear issues before it permits wider inspections beyond its few declared atomic sites to verify there is no secret nuclear activity geared to bomb-making.
No progress has been made on this issue, unlike the inquiry into Iran's nuclear history. But ElBaradei was expected to press for broader inspections, critical to allaying mistrust in Iran's intentions that prompted two sets of U.N. sanctions.
Iran has rejected Security Council resolutions demanding an enrichment suspension in exchange for talks on trade benefits.
But the prospects of harsher U.N. sanctions sought by Washington have receded since a U.S. intelligence report in December that said Iran apparently halted an active atomic bomb program in 2003. Iran denies ever having had such a program.
Some Western nations fear the U.S. report has eased pressure on Iran to heed international demands for restraint.
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