Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel (r) in talks with Umberto Ranieri, chairman of the Italian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in Tehran, on Sunday.

VIENNA, Austria,
Jan. 14-- Iran agreed to answer remaining questions about its past nuclear activities within a month during talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, the UN watchdog said on Sunday.
The time limit was announced by IAEA official Melissa Fleming Sunday at the end of talks in Tehran between ElBaradei and top Iranian leaders, wire services reported.
ElBaradei also was given new information on Iran’s “new generation of centrifuges“ during weekend talks with Iranian leaders, said Fleming, his spokeswoman. That issue is a priority for the agency as it tries to establish how far advanced Iran is in developing the technology.
Announcing the deadline, Fleming spoke only in general terms, without mentioning what was being now probed by agency experts under a plan agreed to last summer. But diplomats said that investigation was now in its final stage.
The probe was originally slated to be completed in December, and the US and its allies have been chafing at the delay, say diplomats accredited to the IAEA. But they are unlikely to object publicly if the extension allows ElBaradei to reveal details of the programs.
The e-mailed comments by Fleming were issued just a few hours after ElBaradei’s plane touched down in Vienna, ending a two-day visit to Tehran that included unprecedented meetings with both Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The diplomat said the talks went “very well“, adding thatÑbeyond discussing the progress of his agency’s probe into Iran’s nuclear past--ElBaradei was able to press his case for the need for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment, a key UN Security Council demand.
Separately, however, a senior diplomat expressed doubt ElBaradei was able to persuade the Iranians to freeze enrichment and noted western efforts for additional UN sanctions against the Islamic republic would continue unless that condition was met.

TEHRAN, Jan. 14--The Majlis speaker says the Islamic revolution poses no threat to other states as it remains focused on eliminating destructive outside influence.
In a meeting Sunday with Umberto Ranieri, chairman of the Italian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Gholamali Haddad Adel said the revolution has roots in ancient civilization and in the determination of the iron-willed liberal nation, Presstv reported.
“The revolution and Islamic republic is no threat to other countries and/or their national security,“ the senior lawmaker was quoted as saying.
Some states, he complained, do not have a in-depth understanding of Iran, and this shortcoming can be eliminated by regular exchange of visits that can help nurture better insight into the realities of the country.
Haddad described the US “authoritarian stance“ as the main hurdle to normal relations between the two estranged powers.
Ranieri, for his part, acknowledged the positive direction of the 1979 revolution and hoped the international community would appreciate “Iran’s contribution to restoring regional peace and
0stability.“

TEHRAN, Jan. 14--The Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps denied reports that its officials recently traveled to Baghdad, calling it a US lie.
“Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) does not make decisions on talks with the US and Iran’s foreign policy is determined by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Foreign Ministry,“ a senior IRGC official was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Sunday, without identifying him.
“Such baseless reports indicate the weakness of the White House in confronting Iran,“ he added.
The official said the move was aimed at covering up the disgrace brought on the White House after the release of the fake footage of the Hormuz Strait identification check by the Pentagon.
The Sunday Times had earlier claimed that the head of the IRGC “slipped into Baghdad’s Green Zone last month to press Tehran’s hardline position over the terms of the current talks with US officials“.

TEHRAN, Jan. 14--Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri expressed optimism over Tehran-Athens cooperation and called for closer ties.
“We have a positive appraisal of friendly relations between our two countries in all fields and believe that the ground is prepared for further expansion of bilateral cooperation, especially in economic and political areas,“ Baqeri told IRNA on Sunday.
He added that during his stay in Athens, he would hold talks with senior Greek officials on ways of expanding mutual relations as well as major regional and international developments.
Pointing to positive developments regarding Iran’s nuclear case, the official expressed hope that outstanding issues between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency would be settled at the earliest.
Baqeri said Greece shares closer stances with Iran on many issues among the European countries, adding that he would use his visit to clarify Iran’s positions on important regional and global issues, while getting better acquainted with the views of the Greek authorities.
Commenting on the recent favorable developments regarding Iran’s nuclear case, Baqeri said, “Certain hostile states have been striving to devise a resolution against Iran at the United Nations, but they have failed in their efforts in the face of serious international opposition.“
“Even efforts by certain European countries to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran have met with failure due to the stances adopted by the EU’s more realistic member-states,“ he said.