IAEA Director General arrives in Iran

The invitation comes as Iran prepares to return to nuclear talks in Vienna.

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Tehran, 23 November 2021 (TDI): International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi just met with the Iranian Foreign Minister. Iran invited Grossi ahead of the restarting of talks in Vienna.

Grossi was last in Iran in September. During that trip, he secured access to surveillance footage of the nuclear facilities across the country. In previous days, the IAEA gave updated estimates of Iran’s uranium stockpile.

In that sense, Grossi is now in Teheran holding his first meeting with Iran’s new Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian. He was also scheduled to meet Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, but no meeting has been announced with President Ebrahim Raisi.

Vienna Talks and the role of the IAEA

Iran and the P4+1 – China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Germany – will meet on November 29 to resume talks that were halted in June to allow Raisi to form his government. Moreover, the US which unilaterally abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Iran, will participate indirectly.

According to official information, “Grossi’s visit comes one day before the IAEA’s board of governors meeting commences, where any censure action against Iran is unlikely for fear of damaging the upcoming talks in Vienna”.

In the last round of Vienna talks, the heads of the delegations expressed content with ongoing and relentless efforts by the expert teams. Furthermore, they evaluated the outcome of the current round of negotiations. Iran was represented by Chief negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araqchi. He said, “serious decisions need to be made in the capitals of the countries which are parties to the talks in order to resolve key outstanding issues”.

Likewise, the Representative called on parties to the negotiations to adopt the necessary measures seriously, realistically, and resolutely in order to protect and revive the JCPOA. From his view, the negotiating teams are closer to reaching an agreement than ever.