The head of the UN's nuclear surveillance agency pressed Iran over inspections during a visit to Tehran on Monday that was being closely watched ahead of wider nuclear talks between Iran and world powers later this week.


International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said as he left on the trip he was to have "direct talks with high officials of Iran" to build on "good progress" made last week between IAEA and Iranian officials in Vienna, The Sun Daily reported.


He held his first meeting with Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, the official in charge of Iran's nuclear energy programme, the ISNA news agency reported.


Later Monday, Amano was to see Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.


The outcome of the visit was seen as an indicator of Iran's willingness to allay international suspicions of nuclear weapons research to be raised on Wednesday in Baghdad talks between representatives from Iran and from the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, known as the P5+1.


The talks will substantively delve into the issues of Iran's nuclear activities and related sanctions imposed by the West and the UN, following an ice-breaking session in Istanbul last month that ended a 15-month hiatus.