International community agrees to restart Iran nuclear talks

Move comes as Tehran relents on letting IAEA inspectors into ‘suspicious’ military site

BRUSSELS (AP) — The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, who are demanding that Iran freeze all uranium enrichment, said Tuesday they have accepted an offer to resume talks with Tehran on the nuclear issue.

Responding to a February letter from Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in which he proposed new discussions, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed optimism about talks. Ashton is the contact for the group.

The EU hopes that Iran “will now enter into a sustained process of constructive dialogue which will deliver real progress in resolving the international community’s long-standing concerns on its nuclear program,” Ashton’s statement said.

The time and venue of the talks have yet to be determined.

Catherine Ashton speaks at the European parliament (photo credit: courtesy EU) — Catherine Ashton speaking at the European parliament (photo credit: courtesy EU)

The West fears Iran seeks nuclear weapons, and speculation is rife that Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike to set back the program.

Tehran denies that, saying its nuclear program is designed chiefly to generate electricity and does not have a military component. The head of the U.N. nuclear agency said Monday that his organization has “serious concerns” that Iran may be hiding secret atomic weapons work.

Talks between Iran and the 27-nation EU have been going on inconclusively for several years. The last round of negotiations in January 2011 ended in failure.

Ashton had written Jalili in October, offering Iran a new round of talks toward an agreement that “restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Inspectors to be allowed into Parchin

Her announcement comes as the semi-official ISNA news agency reported that Iran said it would grant UN inspectors access to a military complex where the UN nuclear agency suspects secret atomic work has been carried out.

Tehran had previously banned UN inspectors from visiting the Parchin installation, southeast of Tehran, but a statement by Iran’s permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said the visit will now be allowed in a gesture of good will.

However, it would require an agreement between the two sides on a guidelines for the inspection, ISNA reported.

Inspecting Parchin was a key request made by senior IAEA teams that visited Tehran in January and February. Iran rebuffed those demands at the time, as well as attempts by the nuclear agency’s team to question Iranian officials and secure other information linked to the allegations of secret weapons work.