Iran in haste to "crack hard nuts" with IAEA

Iranian senior nuclear negotiator would hold talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief next Tuesday on Iran's nuclear issue, Tasnim news agency reported.

Abbas Araqchi, also Iranian deputy foreign minister, would discuss with IAEA chief Yukiya Amano on Iran's current and future cooperation with the UN nuclear agency, according to the report.

The talk came following a western release Thursday that based on a recent UN watchdog report that "Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures."

The IAEA report was referring to the allegations concerning Iran's "furtive" work on high-explosive tests, about which the country was supposed to have provided explanations to the UN body by last August.

Earlier in the day, local media said delegations from Iran and the US would sit for another round of nuclear talks in Geneva Friday, adding that following the bilateral talks, further discussions may be held with the participation of other members of the P5+1 group of world powers --the US, France, Britain, China, Russia plus Germany.