UN nuclear watchdog set to visit Tehran: Iranian diplomat

PanARMENIAN.Net - The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog will visit Tehran this week, joining a group of experts who were due to fly late on Monday, September 14, Iran's top nuclear official said, according to Reuters.

Ali Akbar Salehi spoke in Vienna after meeting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano, who is responsible for monitoring whether Iran complies with a nuclear deal reached with world powers on July 14.

The IAEA said in an email that a visit by Amano to Tehran was under consideration but the "details are still to be worked out".

The IAEA is in discussions with Iran about how to implement the Road-map, which will include inspections of nuclear facilities and meetings with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), headed by Salehi.

IAEA officials will also be present when Iranian technicians take soil samples taken from an Iranian military site at Parchin, according to diplomats, as part of the agency's investigation into the possible military dimensions of Iran's past nuclear program.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Republicans will try a second time on Tuesday, September 15 to move ahead on a resolution rejecting the Iran nuclear deal, and the outcome is expected to be the same: Democrats are poised to block the measure and preserve President Barack Obama's foreign policy win.

Republicans now are working to craft new sanctions legislation to maintain a hardline stance against Iran. Looking ahead to next year's elections, Republican campaign committees also have targeted Democrats who backed the deal and some organizations against the deal already have threatened to withdraw political contributions from members of Congress who backed it.