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. Iran and IAEA to hold talks Tuesday
VIENNA, July 23 (AFP) Jul 23, 2007
Iran will hold talks with the UN atomic watchdog Tuesday in Vienna over its nuclear programme, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday.

"The meeting will be held tomorrow at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at the IAEA in Vienna," Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told AFP.

The talks between Iran and the IAEA "will be at the same level as in Tehran," Soltanieh said, referring to a July 12 meeting between Iranian officials and an IAEA delegation led by the agency's deputy head Olli Heinonen.

"It will be a continuation of the last meetings, working on the modalities of dealing with outstanding issues," he added.

Soltanieh said he would be attending Tuesday's meeting along with Iranian deputy national security chief Javad Vaeidi, who was also present at the talks earlier this month.

Talks were initially planned for July 25-26 in Vienna to finalise a plan "on clarifying the open issues associated with the scope and content of Iran's (uranium) enrichment programme," according to the IAEA.

The West, led by the United States, is calling for Tehran to stop enriching uranium, claiming it is using its civilian atomic energy program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons.

Highly enriched uranium can be the explosive core of atom bombs.

Iran has rejected any halt in its enrichment work, to which it claims a right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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