The U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran ended a three-hour meeting on Monday without announcing any new action to help allay concern about Tehran’s atomic activities, leaving it unclear whether headway was achieved, Reuters reported on May 12th.
Contrary to usual practice, neither side made any statement after the talks at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, held ahead of a May 15 deadline for Iran to provide information about detonators that can be used to set off an atomic explosive device.
They also did not say when they would meet again.
The lack of a clear outcome may disappoint Western diplomats, who want Iran to move much faster in addressing suspicions about past atomic bomb research. Diplomatic sources told Reuters on Friday that the IAEA was seeking further clarification from Iran about one of those steps, concerning fast-acting detonators that can have both military and civilian applications.
Iran says it has already implemented the seven steps – including access to two uranium sites – but the sources suggested the IAEA still wanted more information about the so-called Explosive Bridge Wire (EBW) detonators.
How Iran responds to questions about its development of this type of equipment is seen as an important test of its willingness to cooperate fully with a long-stalled IAEA investigation into suspected activities in the past relevant for the development of nuclear weapons.
Western diplomats say Iran must start engaging with the IAEA’s investigation and that this is central to the success of the powers’ talks with Tehran aimed at an accord by late July.
But diplomats say Iran and the powers – the United States, France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain – remain far apart on what a long-term deal to resolve the dispute, and dispel fears of a new Middle East war, would look like.