Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator to meet with head of U.N. nuclear watchdog

(AP) Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator arranged a meeting with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog Friday as the agency prepared to release recommendations on withdrawing technical aid for some nuclear projects run by Iran.

The talks between Ali Larijani, Iran's senior nuclear envoy, and Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, were confirmed by an IAEA official who asked for anonymity because he was not the agency's official spokesman.

After his stopover in Vienna, Larijani was to meet with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Javier Solana, the EU's top foreign policy official, on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich, Germany, said diplomats, who asked anonymity for divulging confidential information. They said his talks in both Vienna and Munich would likely focus on the technical aid report.

Iran insists it will not give up uranium enrichment, despite U.N. sanctions for its refusal to do so, but has repeatedly said it is open to a diplomatic solution in its standoff with the international community.

Larijani's meetings with Steinmeier and Solana would be the first with senior Western officials since negotiations with Solana collapsed last year over Tehran's refusal to suspend enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear arms. A European official told The Associated Press, however, that there were no indications Larijani was carrying new proposals that would lead to renewed negotiations.

The Vienna-based IAEA suspended aid to Iran last month in line with Security Council sanctions calling for an end to assistance for programs that could be misused to make an atomic weapon. Diplomats back then emphasized that the freeze was temporary for now and subject to review and approval by the 35-nation board of the IAEA next month.

The report, to be issued internally to board member, nations will propose culling those programs from the full list that that could serve non-peaceful nuclear aims. It is up to board members to make the final decision.

The agency's move to temporarily shelve some projects even before a final decision by the board was interpreted by some diplomats who deal with the Vienna-based IAEA as a victory for the United States.

Washington is the key critic of Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. While Tehran says it wants to develop an enrichment program to generate energy, the Americans say the Islamic republic is more interested in the program's other application _ creating the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Iran gets IAEA technical aid for more than 15 projects and dozens more that also involve other countries.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany all want Iran to mothball its enrichment program and have acted as a group in trying to engage Tehran on the issue. But their approaches and priorities have differed over the past year _ resulting in often visible strains in what is meant to be a joint initiative.

Russian and Chinese reluctance to slap harsh sanctions on Tehran _ as initially demanded by Washington _ have created the greatest pressures. Both nations share economic and strategic interests with Iran

Differences over how severely to punish Tehran for its refusal to suspend enrichment led to months of disputes before agreement was reached in December on a Security Council resolution imposing limited sanctions that fell short of the harsher measures the Americans had pushed for.

The sanctions include a review of technical aid to Iran _ programs meant to bolster the peaceful use of nuclear energy in medicine, agriculture or power generation.

In November, the board of the agency indefinitely suspended an IAEA project that would have helped Iran put safety measures in place for a heavy water reactor that, once completed, will produce plutonium _ like enriched uranium, a potential pathway to nuclear arms. That decision, however, was relatively straightforward, considering the Security Council had already indirectly called for an end to construction of the reactor.

In contrast, most of the projects up for review at the March meeting are for programs that have less obvious potential weapons applications.

They include cancer therapy programs, nuclear safety projects and requests for help in international nuclear licensing procedures.

The March meeting also will hear a separate report from ElBaradei expected to confirm that Iran has expanded its enrichment efforts instead of mothballing them _ a development that would empower the Security Council to impose stricter sanctions.

Diplomats earlier this week revealed that technicians had assembled hundreds of centrifuges in series in an underground facility near the central Iranian city of Natanz, in a further step toward Tehran's stated goal of running 54,000 centrifuges there that churn out enriched uranium.