TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Senior U.N. investigators opened a new round of talks on today with Iranian officials in Tehran in the hopes of restarting a probe into allegations that the Islamic Republic carried out atomic bomb trigger tests and other suspected weapons-related studies.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency reported that negotiations started at the headquarters of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. It gave no further details.

The U.N. meetings are considered an important test of Iran’s willingness to address Western concerns before the possible resumption of wider dialogue with the U.S. and other world powers.

Negotiations with the six nations —the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — fell apart more than six months ago and Iran has proposed getting them back on track, perhaps as soon as later this month.

The U.S. and others hope the talks will result in an agreement by the Islamic Republic to stop enriching uranium to a higher level that could be turned relatively quickly into the warheadgrade material.

Iran denies such aspirations, insisting it is enriching only to make reactor fuel and to make isotopes for medical purposes.

ISNA said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has agreed restart the next round of world power talks with Iran on Jan. 28-29, but no decision has yet been made on the venue. The last round, held in Moscow in June, ended in stalemate.

The official IRNA news agency, however, said the talks may not resume until early February.

Before departing Tuesday for Iran, U.N. team leader Herman Nackaerts said the International Atomic Energy Agency hoped to “finalize the structured approach” that would outline what the agency can and cannot do in its investigation.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog wants to revisit Parchin, a military site southeast of Tehran, to probe allegations that Iran may have tested components needed to develop a nuclear weapon.

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