UN nuclear chief to visit Iran: Salehi

TEHRAN - Agence France-Presse

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi speaks at the Council for Foreign Affairs on Park Avenue, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012, in New York. The minister spoke of what he claims is a phobia of Iran within the United States and fielded questions concerning Iran's nuclear program. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, will visit Iran to discuss the dimensions of Tehran's nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was reported as saying on Wednesday.
 
"The visit of Mr Amano to Tehran is in line with discussions about possible military dimensions" of the programme, Salehi said, quoted by IRNA state news agency.
 
"Our ambassador in Vienna is scheduled to have a meeting regarding the visit," he added without providing any exact dates.

Last month, diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the continuation of negotiations between Iran and the Vienna-based UN agency in mid-October.
 
Amano has said he wants to pursue dialogue with Iran on suspicions of past nuclear weapons research activities, despite the failure of series of meetings since the beginning of the year.
 
"We will continue negotiations with Iran on a structured approach to resolve all outstanding issues. I hope we can reach agreement without further delay, to be followed by immediate implementation," Amano said on September 17.
 
The IAEA is seeking greater cooperation from Tehran to answer questions about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear programme.
 
The agency has failed to convince Tehran to grant access to sites, scientists and documents linked to suspected activities that the IAEA believes were "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device".
 
Several meetings since early 2012, and even a visit from Amano to Tehran in May, did not bring the two parties into an agreement.