A senior Iranian envoy is to attend a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday, to answer some of the key questions in the IAEA's investigation of Iran's nuclear programme.

Javad Vaedi, a deputy to Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani,will meet with European Union negotiator Robert Cooper on Monday, then with IAEA senior official Olli Heinonen, to answer some questions about Iran's current nuclear program, and prepare for another meeting between Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

On Monday, the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors will meet to discuss Iran's nuclear program. Vaedi's visit is considered to be the latest attempt by Iran to delay, if not prevent, new U.N. sanctions.

An IAEA report two weeks ago said that Iran continued to resist the Security Council ban on enrichment and instead was expanding its activities.

The Vienna-based IAEA will be hearing this week a report from IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei which states that Iran is in fact expanding uranium enrichment work.

The IAEA reports and meeting may prompt the UN to impose the third round of sanctions against Iran, which Iran is trying to avoid.

The United States and some European countries accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons with its uranium enrichment project, an accusation Iran denies, saying it only wants it for electricity.

Source: Xinhua