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IAEA keeps talks alive
Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said dialogue with Iran remains open despite current limitations in cooperation between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog, adding, "I am sure we will get there."
“Photo: IAEA The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stated that dialogue with Iran continues despite ongoing limitations in cooperation between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog”
Grossi told The National during a visit to London for a UN hustings that there is "a minimal dialogue and exchange that we have, but it's very limited at the moment," while he said Tehran’s view is that "the time is not ripe for a resumption of full co-operation."
He said he hopes his mediation on nuclear issues with warring parties, including the Iranian and US governments, as well as Russian and Ukrainian leaders in the Zaporizhzhia crisis, will help restore faith in the UN’s ability as a peacemaker.
Grossi also said he was confident he could restore the agency’s relations with Iran after Tehran blamed him for giving the Israeli regime an excuse to attack its peaceful nuclear facilities last year.
In parallel, Grossi urged "very detailed" verification measures for Iranian nuclear activities in any potential agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war between them in the Middle East.
Inspections and an 'illusion'
Speaking to reporters in Seoul, Grossi warned that "Without that, there will be no agreement, but an illusion of an agreement," linking any potential US-Iran nuclear deal to strict inspections of Iran’s nuclear program.
He stressed that any agreement relating to nuclear technology "requires highly detailed verification mechanisms," and underscored the importance of a stringent monitoring system covering all Iranian nuclear activities.
The remarks came as the American side said a second round of talks with Iran could be held in the coming days after an initial round held at the end of last week in Pakistan did not yield an agreement.
Grossi also said, in remarks carried by Reuters, that setting the duration of the uranium enrichment moratorium that Iran is supposed to observe under any agreement with the United States "is a political decision."
An Iranian diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that negotiations failed because of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the IAEA confirmed Iran has a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60%.
Uranium custody and dispute
Rafael Grossi told the Financial Times that Kazakhstan has expressed willingness to take custody of Iran’s stock of enriched uranium at levels close to the enrichment threshold needed to make weapons if the United States reaches an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program.
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Grossi said the idea was accepted during a meeting between Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Grossi in Astana this week, according to Reuters cited by the report.
The storage facility described in the Reuters-cited account is a bank of low-enriched uranium under international oversight that opened in 2017 in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a separate thread of reporting, CNN said Trump continues to study the possibility of reaching a preliminary agreement with Tehran, while Washington’s central objective is that "Iran never has a nuclear weapon," and Iran insists it is not pursuing one.
CNN also cited that the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, told CNN that Tehran was not days or weeks away from possessing a nuclear weapon, while Iran rejected hosting international nuclear inspectors in the following month.
