IAEA says no progress in nuclear talks with Iran.

IAEA says no progress in nuclear talks with Iran.(JPost).The UN nuclear watchdog and Iran failed at talks on Friday to unblock a probe into suspected atom bomb research by the Islamic state, a setback dimming any chances for success in higher-level negotiations between Iran and major powers later this month. The International Atomic Energy Agency, using unusually pointed language, said no progress had been made in the talks aimed at sealing a deal on resuming the IAEA's long-stalled investigation, and it described the outcome as "disappointing." The setback came just a few weeks after UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano said he had won assurances from senior Iranian officials in Tehran that an agreement would be struck soon. Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA's global head of inspections, said after the eight-hour meeting at IAEA headquarters in Vienna that no date for further discussions on the matter had been set. The IAEA had been pressing Tehran for an accord that would give its inspectors immediate access to the Parchin military complex, where it believes explosives tests relevant for the development of nuclear arms have taken place and suspects Iran may now be cleaning the site of any incriminating evidence. The United States, European powers and Israel want to curb Iranian nuclear activities they fear are intended to produce nuclear bombs. The Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is meant purely to produce energy for civilian uses. Six world powers were scrutinizing the IAEA-Iran meeting to judge whether the Iranians were ready to make concessions before a resumption of wider-ranging discussions with them in Moscow on June 18-19 on the decade-old nuclear dispute. The lack of result may heighten Western suspicions that Iran is seeking to drag out the two sets of talks to buy time for its uranium enrichment program, without backing down in the face of international demands that it suspend its sensitive work. "It should by now be clear to everyone that Iran is not negotiating in good faith," a senior Western diplomat said. Nackaerts said the IAEA had come to the meeting with a desire to finalize the deal and had presented a revised draft that addressed earlier stated concerns by Iran. "However, there has been no progress," he told reporters. "And indeed Iran raised issues that we have already discussed and added new ones. This is disappointing. A date for a follow-on meeting has yet to be fixed." "This situation is reminiscent of the Peanuts cartoon of Charlie Brown repeatedly believing Lucy this time will hold the football for him to kick, with her always snatching it away at the last minute, leaving him to fall flat."Hmmmmm......"Timeeeee is on my side!....Yes it is".Read the full story here.