VIENNA — U.N. efforts to investigate suspicions that Iran has worked on nuclear arms appeared to gain traction Tuesday, with both sides coming out of talks speaking of progress after nearly two years of deadlock and agreeing to meet again Nov. 11 in Tehran.
Negotiators for Iran and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency refused to go into details. But their expressions of optimism and agreement not only to meet again but also to do that in Tehran pointed toward forward movement.
Their decision to issue a joint statement, instead of their usual practice of speaking to reporters separately, also was seen as a sign of progress.
Read by Tero Varjoranta, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, the statement spoke of a "substantive discussion" and "cooperation" in the two-day talks ending Tuesday. Iranian chief negotiator Reza Najafi spoke of a "new chapter of cooperation" with the nuclear agency.