'No Progress' on IAEA-Iran Deal for Nuclear Access

New talks with Iran failed to result in a deal allowing greater access to its contested nuclear program, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Friday.

"There has been no progress," the International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts told journalists after a day of talks with Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

"This is disappointing. A date for a follow-on meeting has yet to be fixed," he said, reading out a prepared statement at a joint briefing with Soltanieh.

The Iranian envoy meanwhile insisted that Tehran was dedicated to alleviating fears about its nuclear drive.

"We are ready to remove all ambiguities and prove to the world that our activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes and none of these allegations (of seeking a bomb) are true," he told the media.

"But we need time and patience and a quiet environment" for talks.

"Therefore let Iran and the IAEA do their work," he appealed.

The IAEA has been seeking a deal with Iran that would allow greater access to sites, people and documents tied to Tehran's nuclear program.

Western powers believe Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon but Iran insists its program is entirely peaceful.