Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said dialogue is the only solution to the Iran nuclear issue.

Speaking about Wednesday's talks between representatives of Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said it is better to have cooperation instead of confrontation, stressing that the rights of the Iranian nation should be respected in this sense.

A delegation of the IAEA headed by Deputy Director General and chief inspector Herman Nackaerts had arrived in Tehran to start the nuclear negotiations.

Earlier, Nackaerts said he and his delegation would "work hard" during the talks on Wednesday in Tehran to resolve the outstanding issues related to Iran's nuclear energy program.

He said that the IAEA's objective is to "finalize the structured approach document" in view of resolving the "outstanding issues" regarding Iran's nuclear activities.

"We will have good negotiations," he added.

Nackaerts and his team were scheduled to hold talks with Iranian nuclear officials later on Wednesday and press for access to suspect documents, nuclear officials and especially the Parchin military base, where nuclear weapons parts have allegedly been tested.

However, Tehran said a visit to the Parchin base would be possible if the country's right to a civilian nuclear program were acknowledged.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi Davani said that the IAEA delegation will not visit the Parchin site.

Abbasi's remarks came an hour after the start of negotiations between Iran and the IAEA delegation.

He also underlined that talks between Iran and IAEA will be continued until a logical result is achieved, adding that Parchin is a military base, not a nuclear site.

"IAEA should provide reliable evidence and documents regarding the alleged claims, but it refuses to do so," he said.

Iran allowed the IAEA to inspect the site twice in the past. Tehran says any new agency inspection must be governed by an agreement that lays out the scope of such a visit.

The IAEA wants to revisit Parchin, a military site in southeast of Tehran, to probe Western and Israeli allegations regarding the site's relation to Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has rejected the allegation of nuclear activities being carried out at Parchin.

The US, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.