Iran ready to respond to IAEA concerns

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said Tuesday that the Islamic republic is ready to respond to the concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after an agreement is reached. Talking to reporters at a weekly press briefing, Mehmanparast responded to "request" by Yukiya Amano, director-general of the IAEA, for access to Iran's military Parchin site. Iran and the IAEA should initially agree on a "framework" in which there should be "clear" references to Iran's rights to " peaceful" nuclear activities and a response to the "alleged concerns" about Iran's nuclear program, said the Iranian spokesman. The Parchin site has been the main concern of the agency since November 2011. Iran has previously refused to grant access to the site unless an agreement has been reached on a structured approach, a framework which would allow UN inspectors to look into Iran's nuclear activities. Iran's talks with the IAEA as well as its negotiations with the so-called P5+1 group (comprising five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) have had a "positive" tendency, said Mehmanparast, expressing hope that the talks will bring about results if Iran's rights to nuclear activities are recognized. On Feb. 13, the Islamic republic and the IAEA held their latest round of talks on Iran's disputed nuclear activities without reaching any agreement. The last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers concluded on Feb. 27 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with both sides expressing optimism about the outcome of the meeting.