IAEA chief inspector holds talks in Tehran

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its chief inspector had held "informal" talks in Tehran. The UN nuclear watchdog gave no details about the previously unannounced visit of IAEA Deputy Director General Tero Varjoranta to the Iranian capital, the Voice of America reported. He went to Tehran "at the end of last week for informal talks as part of regular contacts between the agency and Iran," IAEA spokesman Serge Gas said in an email. Gas said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano would "provide an update on developments" in Iran to the UN agency's 35-nation board of governors in a few weeks' time, an apparent reference to a quarterly report due in May. Iran agreed late last year to grant IAEA inspectors greater access to more nuclear sites and to provide more information about its nuclear program. The IAEA's talks with Iran are separate from negotiations between the six major world powers and Tehran but still closely linked.