IAEA reports progress in Iran nuclear talks

 • An IAEA official on Friday said he was confident that a deal with Tehran could be sealed next month.

 • The inspector expressed his confidence to finalize a structured approach in the next talk in Jan. 2013.

 • Iran's permanent representative to the IAEA also said Thursday that the talks were "constructive".

VIENNA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official on Friday said he was confident that a deal with Tehran, which includes access to the controversial Parchin base, could be sealed next month.

Speaking upon his return from Tehran, IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts expressed his confidence to finalize a structured approach in the next talk with Iran in January 2013, although his team was still not granted access to Parchin this time.

"We were able to make progress on the text of the structured approach to resolving the outstanding issues on possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," Nackaerts said.

"Access to Parchin is part of the structured approach and we hope as I said that we will implement that shortly after agreeing on the approach." he said.

Iran's permanent representative to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh also said Thursday evening that the talks between Iran and the IAEA experts were "constructive and good progress was made."

The Parchin military site in southeast of Tehran, where the UN body suspects that some explosive experiments might have been carried out, is a sensitive spot in negotiations between the IAEA and Iran over the latter's contested nuclear program.

Western nations suspect that Iran is conducting weapon-grade activities under the guise of civilian nuclear programs, but Iran denies the charges, saying that its nuclear activities are only for "peaceful" ends.

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