Tehran: Iran and the UN nuclear agency watchdog went into a second day of talks in Tehran on Tuesday meant to help defuse a row over Iranian atomic activity which the West suspects is aimed at building bombs.
But Washington said the talks, in which diplomats said Iran has shown signs of opening up its disputed work to UN scrutiny after years of stonewalling, were not enough to shelve further sanctions against Tehran as Iranian officials have sought.
Negotiators were due to announce the outcome of discussions between senior International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian officials at a news conference later on Tuesday, Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency said, without indicating when.
Iran agreed in June to draw up an action plan within 60 days to grant more access to its nuclear sites for inspectors of the Vienna-based IAEA and clear up longstanding agency questions about the nature and scope of the programme.
Two previous rounds of talks were held in July and earlier this month. Iranian officials have described those discussions as positive and constructive.
Diplomats say Iran is showing signs of transparency to try to ward off the threat of broader UN penalties following two sanctions resolutions since December, mainly targeting individuals and companies linked to the nuclear activities.
But the United States, leading international efforts to isolate Tehran, insists it must also suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition suspension of sanctions and wider talks on trade incentives, something Iran has repeatedly refused to do.
"We intend to push it (tougher UN sanctions) very, very hard and we certainly will never agree that because Iran has some meetings with the IAEA, we should stop all of our efforts," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said
"... We don't trust Iran. No one trusts Iran," he said in a radio debate on Monday.
Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on Monday Iran would retaliate if hit by more punitive measures, without describing a specific response. Iran has previously reduced cooperation with the IAEA when more sanctions were imposed.
Iran insists its atomic plans are aimed at making electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas.
The current talks led by IAEA deputy director Olli Heinonen and Iranian deputy nuclear negotiator Javad Vaeedi are to tackle thorny issues such as the origin of traces of highly enriched -- or bomb-grade -- uranium found on some equipment and the status of research into advanced centrifuges used in enrichment.
