VIENNA – UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano and top aides will travel to Tehran on Sunday for talks with senior Iranian officials, the Vienna-based IAEA said on Friday.
The surprise development comes as Western diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran were making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about the Islamic Republic\’s atomic activity.
Amano "will travel to Tehran this Sunday…to discuss issues of mutual interest with high Iranian officials," the IAEA said in a statement. It said Amano would meet on Monday with officials including chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
Trips to Iran by an IAEA chief are rare. The last such visit was by Amano\’s predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, in October 2009.
Herman Nackaerts, head of IAEA nuclear safeguards inspections worldwide, and Assistant Director General Rafael Grossi will accompany Amano, the statement said.
The rare top-level meetings in the Iranian capital take place two days before Tehran and the six global powers discuss the future of its disputed nuclear program in Baghdad.