WarSclerotic

Iran’s cooperation with UN watchdog investigators is “urgent and essential,” the European Union said Thursday ahead of a new round of talks between Tehran and world powers slated to begin Friday over its nuclear program.

“The EU is disappointed with the very limited progress on [possible military dimensions],” it wrote in a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to Reuters.

“It is essential and urgent that Iran cooperates fully and in a timely manner with the agency regarding all relevant issues. We urge Iran to demonstrate its cooperation by providing the agency with access to all the people, documents and sites requested, and encourage it to facilitate this cooperation through the issuance of visas.”

Western powers have leveled crushing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which they suspect is aimed toward developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the allegations, but a 2011 IAEA intelligence report indicated that Tehran had a nuclear weapons research program until at least 2003, and may have restarted the program since.

Earlier this month, Iran failed to meet a deadline to provide answers about its controversial nuclear program, according to the IAEA. Tehran had agreed to provide information to allay concerns it was developing nuclear weapons, including a type of detonator that could potentially be used in a bomb.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters that “the so-called ‘missing the deadline’ is totally inaccurate,” but said that Iran expected to hold a new meeting with the IAEA soon.

Until last November, Iran had rejected all the claims out of hand, saying they were based on faulty intelligence provided by Israel’s Mossad and the CIA, which it complained it was not even allowed to see.

But in February, Iran promised to share information on its development of a type of detonator with various uses, such as mining, but also in a nuclear bomb. The IAEA is currently analyzing this data.

And in May, Tehran also agreed to exchange information on two other areas: large-scale tests of explosives that could be used in a nuclear bomb; and calculations on the size of a nuclear explosion.

The US State Department has said that the investigation is a “key component of what needs to be discussed” by Iran and the six powers.

Iran and the six world powers will return to the negotiating table on Friday with only two months left to reach a deal on ensuring Tehran’s nuclear program poses no military threat.

It will be the first meeting between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — comprised of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany — since July, when they decided to extend the deadline for a deal to November 24.

However, no major breakthroughs are expected at the talks, which are to continue until the end of next week, as western officials have expressed little optimism.

Negotiators say hurdles remain in the way of a deal, but that holding talks in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly will allow for some high-powered diplomacy to come into play.

Outgoing EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will open the talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before handing over to political directors for negotiations.

A ministerial-level meeting of the P5+1 with Iran is expected next week and US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Zarif.

Western nations agreed to lift some sanctions against Iran last year in exchange for agreement from Tehran to curb nuclear activities and to get to work on a comprehensive agreement.

Negotiators failed to meet a deadline of July 20, but all parties agreed to extend the agreement to November 24 in the hope of getting a final settlement.

While the sides have not ruled out the possibility of another extension, the focus is clearly on beating the clock with a deal by the end of November.

The main sticking point remains Western concern over Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium, a process that can make fuel for peaceful nuclear uses but is also the core of an atomic bomb.

Discussions have revolved around scaling back Iran’s uranium-enrichment capacity to prevent Tehran from “breaking out” and producing a nuclear weapon.

AFP contributed to this report.