Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog will hold a new round of talks this week in a bid to restart the long-stalled weapons inspection program in the Islamic republic.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said two weeks ago he expected a framework co-operation deal to be signed with Iran when he returned to Vienna from a rare trip to Tehran.

I invite Iran to sign and implement the Structured Approach document as soon as possible and to provide early access to the Parchin site, Amano told the IAEA board, according to Reuters.

Iran is also at risk for a new round of sanctions if upcoming nuclear talks fail.

Officials in Jerusalem and Washington confirmed with Israel's daily Haaretz that they are in discussion about a new round of sanctions for Iran if the June 18 talks bear no fruit.

Members of the international community are trying to negotiate with Iran to end its nuclear program. It is believed that Iran is developing nuclear weapons capabilities. However, Tehran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes.

Israel believes that Iran's having nuclear capability could pose a threat to its state. Israel has warned of a military strike.

Nothing has come of two rounds of talks between Iran and the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany. They will all take another go at it in Moscow between June 18 and 19 so as to come to solution before the EU embargo on Iranian oil kicks in July 1.

If we don't get a breakthrough in Moscow there is no question we will continue to ratchet up the pressure, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said. The important point for the Israeli public to understand and for the Iranian leadership to understand is that if we are not able to make progress on the diplomatic track there is additional pressure that can be brought to bear on the pressure track.

Cohen said that sanctions already in place are impacting Iran but more needs to be done.

And we are intent on doing more, he said, as reported by the Associated Press.

Cohen is currently visiting Israel for two weeks. He will be talking about sanctions against Syria and terrorist financing, the Haaretz reported.

United nations Israel Germany Russia