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Iran described two days of talks with Olli Heinonen, the IAEA Deputy Director of Safeguards, as “constructive” and vowed future discussions with the UN agency about Tehran's nuclear program. Diplomats in Vienna noted that the visit was a fresh effort to get Iranian clarification about intelligence reports suggesting it illicitly tried to design atomic bombs1.
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili in a letter to European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana stated that Iran was ready to respond to an incentives package that the United States and five other world powers have offered in exchange for suspension of its uranium-enrichment program. However, Iran has insisted that the Western powers should “simultaneously” provide a more detailed explanation of the offer, a formula that may lead to drawn-out talks2. Following this letter, Iran and the EU agreed to pursue talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis3.
- 1. “Iran says latest atomic talks with IAEA ‘constructive’: report,” Reuters, August 08, 2008, at http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL87082620080808?sp=true
- 2. Colum Lynch and Karen DeYoung, “Iran Seeks Details on Nuclear Offer,” Washington Post, August 06, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR200808...
- 3. “Iran and EU agree to pursue nuclear talks,” Channel News Asia, August 11, 2008, at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/366902/1/.html