Vienna - Multilateral talks on processing Iran's uranium abroad were going "slower than expected" and would continue Wednesday in Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday. Tuesday's talks involving Iran, Russia, France, the United States and the IAEA were stalled over Tehran's refusal to accept France as a direct partner in a deal, according to sources close to the meeting.
"We still hope to be able to reach an agreement," ElBaradei said.
He said there were many complex technical issues involved and that "there is of course the question of confidence-building and guarantees."
Iran argues that it rejects France because of a dispute over Tehran's minority share in France's uranium enrichment company, which has been exacerbated by UN Security Council sanctions.
The Vienna talks are based on Iran's basic agreement with world powers to ship enriched uranium abroad for further processing, before being shipped back as fuel for a medical-purpose reactor in Tehran.
