New Envoy Confers With IAEA Chief

In a meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, the newly appointed Iranian envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog called for closer bilateral technical and nuclear cooperation. Kazem Gharibabadi held talks with Yukiya Amano in Vienna on Monday. While presenting his credentials, the envoy highlighted the need “for expansion of technical nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes with the IAEA, and called for further talks on nuclear safety issues and IAEA safeguards,” Mehr News Agency reported. He noted Iran’s compliance with its commitments under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as confirmed by the IAEA in all of its eleven reports, and reiterated the importance of the agency’s independent, professional and impartial role. The nuclear watchdog chief, for his part, deemed Iran one of the key members of the IAEA, saying the process of cooperation between the two sides has improved in the past couple of years.