The head of the UN atomic watchdog said Sunday he hoped the agency would still reach a deal with Tehran on probing alleged efforts to build nuclear weapons despite the lack of progress in talks between Iran and world powers in Geneva.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said as he left for talks in Tehran that the negotiations between Iran and six world powers that ended in Geneva Sunday without a deal were "different, independent and separate" to those with the UN body.

"Iran presented a new proposal (to the IAEA) last month that includes practical measures to strengthen cooperation and dialogue, and we hope to build on it," Amano told reporters at Vienna airport.

"I hope the coming meeting will produce concrete results," he said. "We are coming to a very important point."

The IAEA conducts regular inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but for two years has been fruitlessly pressing Tehran to answer allegations that it was trying before 2003, and maybe since, to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran's parallel talks with the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, known as the P5+1, are focused more on Tehran's current activities, in particular uranium enrichment.

Three gruelling days of P5+1 talks ended with no agreement but the two sides will meet again on November 20.

The two diplomatic "tracks" are closely related, however, since world powers want Iran to answer the IAEA's questions in order to ease fears about its nuclear programme.

The six countries also want Tehran, which denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, to submit to more intrusive inspections by the watchdog as part of a wider accord.

The IAEA would also be closely involved in monitoring any freeze in enrichment activities and Iran sending its stockpiles of nuclear material to a third country.

Tehran has so far resisted IAEA requests to visit sites where the alleged activities took place as well as to consult documents and speak to Iranian scientists.

Iran's new envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, said on Saturday he was more optimistic about the chances of signing a deal during Amano's trip, his first since May 2012.

"We foresee that the text will be finalised on Monday and that the two sides will reach agreement," Najafi told state television.

Japan urges Iran to take further steps on nuclear issue
Tehran (AFP) Nov 10, 2013 - Japan's foreign minister on Sunday urged Iran to take further steps to reach a nuclear deal with world powers, mainly by allowing snap visits of its facilities, an official said.

Fumio Kishida met President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran and "suggested" Iran accept the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which allows unannounced inspections of its nuclear sites, said the Japanese foreign ministry spokesman.

Kishida also asked Iran to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) of the United Nations, which Tehran signed in 1996, Koichi Mizushima told reporters.

The Japanese minister said that taking those measures "would definitely help the process of Iran's nuclear talks" and "contribute" to ending Tehran's decade-long standoff with world powers over the issue.

The additional protocol allows reinforced and unannounced inspections of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency and requires that information be provided on all activities regarding the nuclear fuel cycle.

As it stands, Iran is only obliged to inform the IAEA three months before it transfers fissile material into the nuclear site.

Iran, a signatory of the NPT, voluntarily implemented the additional protocol between 2003 and 2006, but ceased applying it after its nuclear case was sent to the United Nations Security Council.

According to the spokesman, Kishida wanted to discuss the same proposal with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The latest round of nuclear talks in Geneva between Iran and world major powers finished on Sunday without an agreement, after three days of intensive talks. The parties are due to meet again from November 20.

Although Japan is not part of the P5+1, it has good relations with the United States, and has maintained cordial ties with Iran.

"We were happy of Rouhani's message about having good relationships with the world... as a friend, we can discuss frankly how we can cooperate so that Iran take a more important role in the world," said Mizushima.

The Islamic republic's official news agency IRNA also quoted him as saying that Japan was "ready to help Iran build nuclear power plants when the nuclear issue was resolved".