Germany Welcomes Iran-IAEA Agreement

A009017225.jpgTEHRAN (FNA) The German Foreign Ministry Monday hailed the latest agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran to resolve all outstanding questions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Speaking at a routine government press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger welcomed the visit of the head of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei to Tehran.

He labeled the clarification of all questions on Iran’s nuclear program “an important element to the solution of the dispute.” Settling all outstanding issues could be viewed as a “positive step”, Jaeger added.

“We have welcomed that Mister ElBaradei has taken this path and hope to have progress within the next weeks,” the German official stressed.

A statement by the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog said an agreement had been achieved on the working plan regarding Iran’s nuclear activities.

The statement followed talks held Friday and Saturday in Iran by IAEA chief ElBaradei, who had met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tehran reiterated over the weekend that a major step towards a settlement of outstanding issues would be for the UN Security Council file on Iran being returned to the IAEA.

“The Iranian nuclear file should be returned from the United Nations Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency and be dealt with within a normal course,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in his weekly news conference.

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