IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and Ira
IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and IraReuters

Another round of talks in Vienna between the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency and Iran regarding its nuclear program ended without progress on Friday, according to a senior UN official.

The official said that that no further talks were scheduled between representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran.

“The representatives of Iran and the UN have failed to reach an agreement to resolve the deep concern in light of Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons,” the official said, adding that the parties “have not set a date for another meeting between the two sides.”

IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts was not optimistic about the talks, telling reporters after the meeting, “There were intense discussions today, but the most significant differences between us and the Iranian representatives still remain, a fact which prevents an agreement.”

The Iranian side, however, insisted that the talks indeed yielded results. Iran's IAEA ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told reporters that “we certainly made some progress in the talks.”

Soltanieh added, “Some disagreements do remain, but we must not forget that this is a very complex issue. When it comes to national security, this is a very sensitive issue, but we are definitely moving forward. We intend to continue this process to achieve a framework of an agreement that will be acceptable to all parties.”

The IAEA announced on Tuesday that it will renew its efforts to acquire access to the Iranian military installations in which experiments involving nuclear warheads are suspected to have taken place.

The last round between the UN’s nuclear watchdog and Iran took place in June. The two sides failed to agree on a deal allowing greater access to Tehran's contested nuclear program, including the Parchin military complex, a suspected nuclear-trigger test site, near which Iran razed two buildings several months ago.

International diplomats said Thursday that Iran has accelerated its activities at the Fordo underground nuclear facility near Qom.

The information revealed by the diplomats came several days before the IAEA is to publish a new report on Iran’s nuclear program. According to the diplomats, the report will say that Iran has installed new centrifuges at the Fordo uranium enrichment facility.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)