The U.N. nuclear agency chief said on Friday, January 11 he was not optimistic about talks with Iran next week on getting access to a military base Western powers suspect has been used for atom bomb-related work, Reuters reported. “Talks with Iran don’t proceed in a linear way. It’s one step forward, two or three steps back ... So we can’t say we have an optimistic outlook” for the January 16 meeting, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said. The IAEA has been trying for a year to negotiate a so-called structured approach with Iran that would give it access to sites, officials and documents. The agency’s priority is to visit the Parchin military facility southeast of Tehran, where it suspects explosives tests relevant for nuclear weapons may have taken place.