Grossi meets in Tehran with the country’s authorities with the aim of “relaunching the dialogue”
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossiassured this Saturday that he had had “constructive talks” with Iranian officials in Tehran, which could pave the way to resume negotiations aimed at reactivating the nuclear deal of 2015.
“With the constructive talks we are having now…I am convinced that we will open the way to important agreements,” Grossi said during a press conference with Mohamad Eslami, head of Iran’s atomic energy organization.
“The talks continue in an atmosphere of work, frankness and cooperation,” said the Argentine diplomat, who added that he will have “a better judgement” at the end of the day, after two days of visit.
“Relaunch Dialogue”
Grossi did not specify the progress, but the stated objective of this visit was “restart dialog” with a view to a resumption of negotiations on the agreement, reached in 2015 in Vienna, between Iran and the great powers (the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China), to limit Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.
After the meeting, Eslami assured that the Iranian authorities would “continue working” with the IAEA, while urging the other parties to “fulfill their obligations” under the agreement.
Grossi also met at noon with the head of Iranian diplomacy, Hosein Amir Abdollahian, who recently stated that “the window” to relaunch the agreement was “open”, but that it would not “always remain so”.
A diplomatic source told Agence France Presse that Grossi hopes to meet President Ebrahim Raisi, but this has not been confirmed in Tehran.
western concerns
Depending on the outcome of this visit, the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom will decide whether or not to submit a resolution censuring Iran to the IAEA board of governors, which is due to meet in Vienna next week.
Your concerns have increased recently. According to a confidential IAEA report, which became public this week, they found 83.7% enriched uranium particlesjust shy of the 90% required to make a atomic bombin the Fordo underground plant, about 100 kilometers south of Tehran.
Iran denies wanting to acquire the nuclear bomb and justified itself by saying that there were “involuntary fluctuations” in the enrichment process. The Islamic Republic has claimed that it has not tried to enrich uranium beyond 60%, and insists that its nuclear program is purely civilian.
France, a signatory to the 2015 deal that promised Iran relief from economic sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear activity, described the highly enriched uranium find as “extremely serious.”
A signal
The restrictions included in the pact included a uranium enrichment threshold of 3.67% and were to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But the United States unilaterally withdrew from the pact in 2018 under the presidency of Donald Trump and imposed new sanctions on Tehran, which little by little disregarded the terms of the agreement.
The talks to recover the pact began in 2021, but have been paralyzed since last year.
In Iran, Grossi’s visit is perceived as a sign that it is possible to resolve this dispute through dialogue.
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In November 2022, Western countries criticized Iran’s lack of cooperation following the discovery of enriched uranium at three undeclared facilities.
The last time Grossi visited Iran was in March 2022. The IAEA said its director will give a press conference after returning to Vienna on Saturday afternoon.