IAEA talks in Tehran enter second day

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VIENNA, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that talks with Iranian authorities in Tehran entered their second day.

A delegation from the IAEA arrived Wednesday in Tehran for nuclear negotiations. Talks last month were described as friendly, though inspectors were denied access to the controversial Parchin military complex outside of Tehran.

Gil Tudor, a spokeswoman for the IAEA, confirmed to Bloomberg News without elaborating that inspectors there had continued their visit into a second day.

Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reported that IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts had hoped to gain access to Parchin.

The Iranian government had rejected claims that it was hiding evidence of a controversial nuclear program at the facility. Press TV reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated that any controversial nuclear work was nearly impossible to clean up.

Robert Kelley, a former IAEA inspector for Iraq, told Bloomberg early this week that he was concerned inspectors were relying on the analysis of only a few foreign governments with regards to Parchin.

Multilateral nuclear talks are expected to get under way later this month in Turkey.