Iran agrees with IAEA on ‘some points’

Iran on Wednesday said "some points" had been agreed upon during talks with representatives of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Reuters, citing Iranian sources.

IAEA officials did not immediately respond to reports on talks, which represent a renewed attempt to come to an internationally-accepted agreement on Iran's controversial nuclear program, said Reuters. Western nations fear the Iranian program is being used to make a bomb; Tehran denies this. 

Iran's ISNA news agency cited IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying Wednesday that "[s]ome differences were resolved and agreement on some issues in the modality was reached," reported Al Jazeera, adding that new proposals would be presented, according to Soltanieh, in "future meetings." 

The talks come a day after US President Barack Obama threatened to do “what is necessary” — a phrase widely interpreted as a military threat — to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The remarks came as part of his State of the Union address, said The Washington Post. 

Iran has prevented IAEA officials from accessing key sites and repeatedly rebuffed the Vienna-based agency's attempts to resolve the standoff, said Al Jazeera.