October 12, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 29, 1428

TEHRAN, Oct 11: Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog wrapped up two-days of talks on Tehran’s controversial enrichment programme on Thursday and will meet again next week, the semi-offical Mehr news agency reported.

“It was agreed to continue these meetings at the level of experts next week,” deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Javad Vaidi, was quoted as saying.

“The two sides were satisfied with the process of the negotiations and their continuation,” said Vaidi, who headed the Iranian negotiators in talks with officials from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The technical negotiations, which began on Tuesday, focused on P1 and P2 type centrifuges.

The IAEA is seeking details on how Iran obtained components for its P1 type centrifuges, of which more than 2,000 are in operation at its nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz, and on its research with the more efficient P2 model. The talks follow an agreement reached in August for Tehran to provide answers to outstanding questions over its nuclear programme including plutonium experiments.

Much of the West, headed by the United States, charge that Tehran is working secretly to obtain nuclear weapons. Iran strongly denies this, saying its work is to achieve nuclear power to generate electricity, to which it has the right. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday lashed out at major powers involved in Tehran’s nuclear dispute.

“Bullying powers should let the agency do its legal activity,” the president said, referring to Iran’s nuclear authorities.

“The Iranian nation is ready for dialogue with everybody about different issues of the world but it will not back down on its absolute right in the nuclear issue, not even one iota,” warned Ahmadinejad.—AFP