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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Israel 'met Iran' at atomic talks | Israel 'met Iran' at atomic talks |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| Senior Israeli and Iranian officials have met face-to-face and discussed one of the most pressing regional issues, nuclear proliferation, Israel says. | Senior Israeli and Iranian officials have met face-to-face and discussed one of the most pressing regional issues, nuclear proliferation, Israel says. |
| Israeli officials confirmed to the BBC both sides attended panel sessions of a September conference on disarmament and non-proliferation in Cairo. | Israeli officials confirmed to the BBC both sides attended panel sessions of a September conference on disarmament and non-proliferation in Cairo. |
| Israel, believed to have nuclear arms, sees Iran as a potential nuclear arms threat though Iran denies seeking them. | Israel, believed to have nuclear arms, sees Iran as a potential nuclear arms threat though Iran denies seeking them. |
| It is the first official contact to be disclosed since Iran's 1979 revolution. | It is the first official contact to be disclosed since Iran's 1979 revolution. |
| Representing Israel at the conference was the head of arms control at the Israeli Atomic Agency, Meirav Zafary-Odiz, Israeli media reported. | |
| Iran's ambassador to the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, attended the closed-door event at the Four Seasons hotel in the Egyptian capital. | |
| Reacting to the reports, Iran's atomic energy organisation spokesmen denied any meetings had taken place with Israel. | |
| "This lie is a kind of psychological operation designed to affect the constant success of Iran's dynamic diplomacy in the Geneva and Vienna meetings," said Ali Shirzadian in quotes broadcast on Iranian state TV. | |
| Iran does not recognise Israel and the two sides are frequently involved in exchanging hostile threats and denunciations. | |
| Israel's Haaretz newspaper says three panel sessions of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament conference involved exchanges between the Iranian and Israeli delegates. | |
| The sessions dealt with efforts to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, non-proliferation in the region and developing peaceful nuclear energy. | |
| The newspaper says Mr Soltanieh and Ms Zafary-Odiz did not meet separately outside the session or shake hands. | |
| Israel is widely believed to have a stockpile of atomic warheads with delivery systems, but it refuses to confirm or deny their existence and has not signed the international Nuclear Non-Profileration Treaty. | |
| The US leads accusations that Iran is engaged in a covert bid to develop nuclear weapons, although Iran says its nuclear activities are purely for peaceful ends. |