UN atomic watchdog in new bid to unblock Iran probe

The UN nuclear watchdog will try to persuade Iran to address questions about its suspected nuclear weapons research at a meeting on Friday, more than two months after previous talks ended in failure.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a brief statement confirming the talks, to be held at Iran's diplomatic mission in Vienna, after diplomats said earlier on Tuesday that they expected a new meeting on that day.

The talks, to be attended by senior IAEA officials, will take place just a few days before the UN agency is due to issue its latest quarterly report on Iran's disputed nuclear programme.

They could give Iran a last minute chance to influence the content of the report if it were to offer concessions to UN inspectors seeking access to sites, officials and documents they say they need to conduct their long-stalled inquiry.

However, Western diplomats said they did not expect any breakthrough.

Iran denies Western allegations it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons technology. But its refusal to curb and be more transparent about its nuclear activity has led to increasingly tough sanctions and sparked speculation that Israel, Tehran's arch foe, might attack Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran "will try something," one of the diplomats said. But, "I don't see any bridging of the differences on the issues that were outstanding" in the last meeting on June 8.

The IAEA said its delegation would be led by Herman Nackaerts, its chief inspector, and Rafael Grossi, assistant director general for policy.

The IAEA report - which is expected to say Tehran is pressing ahead with its uranium enrichment programme - will be submitted to the agency's 35-nation governing board, which meets on Sept. 10-14 with Iran likely to again dominate the agenda.