New talks with Iran failed to result in a deal allowing greater access to its contested nuclear programme, the UN nuclear watchdog said yesterday.

“There has been no progress,” the International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief inspector Herman Nackaerts told journalists after a day of talks with Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

“This is disappointing. A date for a follow-on meeting has yet to be fixed,” he said.

The Iranian envoy meanwhile insisted Tehran was dedicated to alleviating fears about its nuclear drive.

“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 seeking a bomb) are true,” he told the media.

“But we need time and patience and a quiet environment. Therefore let Iran and the IAEA do their work,” he appealed.

The IAEA has been seeking a deal with Iran that would allow greater access to sites, people and documents tied to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

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