The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has held intensive talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in what he called, a "good atmosphere". The meeting took place in Tehran just one day before a six-power meeting with Iran in Baghdad.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said the discussions revolved around nuclear disarmament, halting nuclear weapons proliferation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy as permitted under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Yukiya Amano said, "We held expansive and intensive talks in a good atmosphere. For sure, the progress in the dialogue will have positive impact on the upcoming talks with Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members, plus Germany. Of course, these two are separate subjects, but can help each other."

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano (left) speaks during a press conference as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Said Jalili (R) looks on in Tehran on Monday. Amano and Jalili hailed "intensive" and "very good" talks on Iran's nuclear programme, state television says.

According to the state-run IRIB TV website, Jalili expressed hope that Iran and IAEA will have good cooperation in these three areas in future.

Jalili said, "We would like to have good cooperation with the agency (the IAEA), so that we can help strengthen the agency, so that the agency can meet its objectives in a variety of areas, specifically in three areas: defending the right of (agency) members to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, for achieving nuclear disarmament, and to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation."

Amano's one-day visit is focused on getting Iran to agree to terms that will allow IAEA inspections of suspect Iranian sites, including the Parchin military complex. Tehran denies having worked on atomic weapons, saying that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and Parchin is used only as a conventional weapons site.

The six-power coalition is comprised of the five UN Security Council permanent members - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany. The group will work to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear program and ease concerns of making nuclear weapons during the meeting on Wednesday.

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