Soltanieh
Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh attends a news conference after talks at the U.N. headquarters in Vienna. Reuters

Iran's nuclear talks with the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have crumbled over the inspection of Iran's nuclear facilities as they failed to reach any agreement.

The failure of the eight-hour talks at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna is seen as an impediment to the Iran and P5+1 dialogue later this month.

"There has been no progress. This is disappointing," AFP quoted IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts as saying after the talks.

Nackaerts added that Iran came up with new conditions on the deal although the IAEA initiated the talks in a constructive spirit. A date for the next round of talks is yet to be set.

The IAEA has been pursuing greater access to Tehran's nuclear facilities to investigate whether the country had nuclear weapons in the past.

"We are ready to remove all ambiguities and prove to the world that our activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes and none of these allegations [of developing a bomb] are true," Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali Ashghar Soltanieh was quoted as saying by AFP.

The failure has come at a time, when tougher western sanctions against Iran are to come into force in a few weeks. Also, Israel is constantly threatening military action against Iran if it fails to stop its nuclear programme.

"It should by now be clear to everyone that Iran is not negotiating in good faith," Reuters quoted an unnamed western diplomat as saying. Another expert echoed a similar opinion: "This is a dismal outcome ... Iran is simply wasting time with its evasions and refusal to engage," according to the report.

The IAEA has been calling on Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment programmes while Iran has been claiming that the programmes are only for peaceful purposes.

Israel Baghdad