UN nuclear watchdog ‘disappointed’ with lack of progress in Iran talks

By Susan Ryan

File photo of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Image: AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian/PA

08/06/12 1,243 Views 14 Comments

THE INTERNATIONAL Atomic Energy Agency says it is “disappointing” that no progress has been made in discussions with Iranian officials over the development of Iran’s nuclear programme.

An agreement was reached with Iran last month under which the IAEA was able to restart a repeatedly stalled inquiry into the international community’s suspicions that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly denied the accusations; it says it it’s nuclear programme is focused on energy production.

Senior IAEA officials met an Iranian delegation in Vienna, Austria today in the latest effort to reach agreement on a structured approach paper for resolving outstanding issues concerning the nuclear programme.

After that meeting, IAEA deputy director general Herman Nackaerts said that the IAEA team “came to the meeting in a constructive spirit with the desire and intention of finalising the paper”.

He said that the organisation has presented a revised draft of the paper which addressed Iran’s earlier concerns about the strategy. “However, there has been no progress,” he said, “and indeed Iran raised issues that we have already discussed and added new ones. This is disappointing.”

A follow-up meeting is expected to be arranged, but no date has been determined for that meeting.

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mturner3636 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
Israel has nukes and has had the capablility since ’67.
Lyndon B Johnson made a pact to keep it quiet, its common knowledge.
They were even caught trying to sell them to South Africa.

Iran is the last conquest left I think. Sitting on untold quantities of oil, gas and minerals.
Why wouldnt they persue the nuclear option to power their country when Oil and Gas prices continue to rise.
If they aquire a nuke, it makes no difference. The USA has such an advanced defence system, they would blow it out of the sky. The pretence is what is worth is weight. The ‘fear’ that Iran would launch a weapon. 45minutes anyone.

Once last thing. Why oh why would Iran attack another country knowing full well that Israel has firm hold of every country who have enough weapons to turn Iran into a huge pain of glass.

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Joan Ruud Donnellan-Wijnen 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
@ Kevin.. Finally …! It’s just the fact that Israel have them at all .. Double standards again..

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Daniel R 08/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
Israel has thousands of nukes and Iran can’t make 1? Iran is now surrounded by countries who have nuclear weapons, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

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  david williams 08/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  by that logic you would argue that Syria, Palestine etc should also have nukes ?
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  Declan Noonan 08/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  Israel neither denies nor says it has the bomb. So what other country in the middle east has it?
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  Declan Noonan 08/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  You also say “thousands”!
  The USA and Russia are the only countries with that many warheads.
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  Benjamin Guy Saunders 08/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  Israel has less than 40 nukes…where did you get the idea they have “thousands”?
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  Too Trueleft 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  Nobody knows except Israel Benjamin how many nukes Israel has exactly but the best esimates from people who know more than you or I put the figure north of 200.
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Daniel R 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
@David I’m using the logic that that the US and every other country in possession of nuclear weapons use, that nuclear warheads serve as a deterrent to war because of stalemate.
@Declan Saying nor Denying is a way for them to get out of answering a question they don’t like. It can be used in just about any context
@Benjamin Thousands might not be an exaggeration given the US have been arming them since time immemorial but
conservative figures are at 200-400.

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  Declan Noonan 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  Daniel the USA has not supplied Israel with nuclear war heads! The USA does not supply anyone with nuclear warheads. Also where do you get “time immemorial”? You really need to back your argument up with factual information.
  When it comes to defending itself from countries in the middle east, all of which have attacked Israel in the last 60 years Israel does not gave to explain itself to other Arab countries. It does not have to admit it has nuclear weapons. It does so out of deterrence .
  So Israel neither denies or admits.
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  Kevin 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  What’s your point here Declan? Everyone knows Israel has nukes. Does it matter where they got them, how many they have, or whether or not they want to admit to it?
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  Daniel R 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  @Declan
  Si you cant accuse me of taking material from ‘lefty’ sites, here’s a report in the London’s Sunday Times (7 January 2007):
  
  “The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.”
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mrnobody 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
Usa should really bomb the hell out of iran.. These guys hate the west

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  Kevin 09/06/12 Comment reported, thank you Report this comment
  You are a COMPLETE moron. Seriously there are no other words to describe such flagrant idiocy.