The head of the U.N. nuclear agency said Monday that talks with Iran have been “going around in circles," with no progress on efforts to clarify concerns about its nuclear program. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that Iran's atomic work is in “clear contravention" of U.N. Security Council resolutions. In comments to the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, Amano also said that Iranian advances in building a heavy-water research reactor and in its uranium enrichment work violate a 2006 Security Council resolution calling for a suspension in such activities. The IAEA has been trying since early 2012 to engage with Tehran over what the Vienna-based U.N. agency in its reports calls the “possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear program. Ten rounds of negotiations in the last 17 months have failed to achieve any breakthrough. “Despite the intensified dialogue between the agency and Iran since January 2012 ... no agreement has been reached on the structured approach document. To be frank, for some time now we have been going around in circles," Amano said.
