Iranian Vice President says Tehran, IAEA to expand cooperation, calls talks constructive

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will expand cooperation, the country's vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Orgsation of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, said on Tuesday, adding that it will be "a new chapter" of Tehran's engagement with the IAEA.

"A new chapter of our cooperation begins, and its further development will continue," Salehi said, cited by Iran's Tasnim news agency, following negotiations with IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, who arrived in Tehran on an official visit on Monday evening. The IAEA head called the talks with Salehi constructive.

The IAEA will operate in line with international standards and legal mechsms, Grossi added, adding that the agency will act impartially.

Grossi is scheduled to meet with the country's other high-ranking officials as well, including President Hassan Rouh and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

It comes after the IAEA's Board of Governors adopted in June a resolution introduced by France, Germany and the United Kingdom that calls on Iran to enable inspectors access to two of its energy and nuclear facilities due to alleged unregistered activities there.

Iran's Permanent Representative to international orgsations in Vienna, Kazem Garib-Abadi, said that Tehran rejects the IAEA resolution because it is based on groundless allegations and adopted under pressure from the United States and Israel.

The country's authorities first raised an issue to change the level of cooperation with the agency, but Rouh then confirmed Tehran's intent to work with the IAEA. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )

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