Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said developments with Iran's nuclear program were "frustrating and disappointing" during a speech to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Monday.

Spindelegger expressed his incomprehension that after many years of negotiation there was still doubt over whether Iran's nuclear program was for peaceful purposes.

He once again called for the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle-East.

"I hope that Middle-Eastern countries will follow the example of other nuclear-weapon-free zones and start a process to establish an exclusion zone for nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass-destruction," he said.

At present, the only nuclear power in the region is Israel, which has had nuclear weapons for decades.