A senior envoy said Friday that Iran wants to expand its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but said the IAEA should not be cast as a "U.N. watchdog" looking for signs of secret nuclear weapons programs. The comments, from Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, were apparently meant to dispel concerns that Tehran was reducing contacts with the Vienna-based agency tasked with probing the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities. Instead of cutting back on cooperation, Tehran wants to increase it, chief delegate Ali Ashgar Soltanieh told The Associated Press. To that end, a meeting between Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh and IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei on Thursday focused on "the promotion of cooperation with the IAEA," he said. On Thursday, Aghazadeh appeared to signal that his country was no longer...
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