TEHRAN, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The lead inspector of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Friday a deal with Iran on its nuclear program likely will be struck in January.
The agreement would grant inspectors access to a military facility where testing of nuclear material is suspected, CNN reported.
"We have agreed to meet again on 16 January next year where we expect to finalize the structured approach and start implementing it then shortly after that," International Atomic Energy Agency lead inspector Herman Nackaerts said in Vienna, where the IAEA is based.
The announcement came after the IAEA ended one-day talks in Iran on the country's nuclear program, suspected by the United States and other Western nations of developing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran repeatedly denies.
Allowing agency inspectors to gain access to the Parchin military complex near Tehran was a key issue in the discussions, CNN said.
"We have not been given access to Parchin this time. But as you know access to Parchin is part of the structured approach, and we hope as I said that we will implement that shortly," Nackaerts said.
Iran's IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said the talks were constructive, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
On Thursday, the United States imposed more sanctions on Iran, targeting five Iranian nuclear experts and seven companies U.S. officials charge are providing materials and technology for the country's nuclear program. The sanctions freeze the companies' assets and bar them from business dealings in or with the United States.
A number of countries have imposed economic and arms-related sanctions on Iran since November 2010, when the IAEA said the Islamic republic was developing technology that could be used to build nuclear weapons.
Iran also was hit by the United States and European Union with an oil embargo and sanctions targeting its banks and several other businesses.
