Iran, IAEA agree on working plan to clarify Tehran’s nuclear issue

    TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday agreed on a working plan to clarify outstanding ambiguities over Tehran's nuclear program, atop IAEA official said.

    "We have in front of us an agreed working plan ...(and) agreed on modalities on how to implement it," IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen told a press conference.

International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director Olli Heinonen (L) shakes hands with Javad Vaeedi, Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator, after a joint news conference in Tehran August 21, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    "We have a timeline for the implementation," Heinonen said." Wetalked about the details and the steps to be taken." Heinonen said that details on the working plan would be revealed in an IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program that is due to be released in two weeks.

    At the same press conference, Vaeedi said that both sides came up with a working plan on how to address the outstanding issues over Tehran's nuclear program.

    The IAEA delegation arrived in Tehran early Monday for the third, and final, round of nuclear talks over a working plan.

IAEA deputy director Olli Heinonen (L) looks at Javad Vaeedi, Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator, during a media conference in Tehran August 21, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    The first round of the Iran-IAEA talks was held on July 11,during which the two sides agreed on the IAEA inspectors' visit to Arak heavy water research reactor.

    The second round was held in Vienna on July 24, in which the two parties set a date for the IAEA inspectors' visit to Arak facilities. The IAEA inspectors visited the Arak reactor on July30.

    Before then, Iran had blocked inspections from the IAEA to its nuclear sites since January this year after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions over the country's controversial nuclear program.

    The Arak reactor, located about 280 km southwest of Iran's capital, could produce plutonium as a by-product when it is completed in 2009. Yet plutonium can also be used to make nuclear bombs.

    The U.S. and other Western countries have accused Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under a civilian cover, but Iran denies such accusation, saying it just wants to generate electricity.