Iran-IAEA dialogue set for May 21

DUBAI: Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog will have further talks over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program around May 21 in Vienna, Iranian media reported yesterday.
There was no immediate confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leaving unclear whether a firm date for the next meeting had already been agreed.
Iran’s Mehr and ISNA news agencies initially reported that the meeting would be held on May 21, but ISNA later quoted an unnamed official as saying this was only a “preliminary agreement” and that the date could be moved by one or two days.
The IAEA-Iran talks are separate from, but have an important bearing on, diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and six world powers aimed at a broad settlement to the decade-old dispute to head off the risk of a new Middle East war.
A Western diplomat in Vienna held out little hope the next round of talks would be more successful than previous rounds.
If confirmed, it would take place shortly before the IAEA is expected to issue its next quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear program and ahead of a June 3-7 meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation, policy-making Board of Governors, when the Iranian nuclear dispute will once again be on the agenda.
“We have seen this game before,” said the diplomat, from a Western country critical of the Islamic Republic.
“Iran seems to have no intention of engaging in real dialogue...(It) just maintains the illusion of movement in order to deflect tough responses from the international community.”
Speaking in Geneva yesterday, European Union nuclear non-proliferation official Jacek Bylica said the EU was “deeply concerned” about Iran’s nuclear programme.
“Our objective remains to reach a comprehensive long-term settlement, which would restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” Bylica said, according to a prepared statement.
Some analysts say the Islamic Republic’s leadership may be unwilling or unable to make important decisions in nuclear negotiations before its presidential election in June.