UN officials leave Iran without nuclear agreement

Senior officials of the UN atomic agency have left Iran without a hoped-for deal that would have led to the resumption of a probe into allegations that Tehran worked secretly on nuclear arms.

Herman Naeckerts, who headed the International Atomic Energy Agency team, said “remaining differences” between the two sides mean “we could not finalise” the agreement on how such an investigation should be conducted.

He declined to say whether there was any progress.

Iran denies it ever worked on nuclear arms and says all its atomic activities are peaceful.

The talks began more than a year ago.

The IAEA wants the probe to be open ended, something Tehran strenuously opposes.