Iran Agrees To Allow More Monitoring Activities as IAEA Director-General Concludes Visit

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has wrapped up his high-profile visit to Iran, as the country agrees to allow the international watchdog to implement more “appropriate verification and monitoring activities.” The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and IAEA have reached a consensus that their interactions should be carried out “in a spirit of collaboration and in full conformity with the competencies of the IAEA and Iran’s rights and obligations,” according to a joint statement by the AEOI and IAEA issued on Saturday.

Iran has also expressed readiness to provide more “information and access” to address the IAEA’s concerns over safeguards issues, namely the alleged “uranium traces” found at three undeclared sites. The statement said that a technical meeting between the IAEA and AEOI will take place in Tehran soon to sort out the “modalities” of their cooperation.

Grossi arrived in Tehran on Friday and held talks with senior Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and AEOI President Mohammad Eslami. Grossi stressed the importance of diplomacy and dialogue for resolving the issues, welcoming any initiative that would help the Vienna talks progress and come to fruition.

In November last year, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution by the United States, Britain, France, and Germany that called on Iran to collaborate with the agency’s investigators regarding “uranium traces.” Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, the United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal. The talks on the JCPOA’s revival began in April 2021 in Vienna, but no breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022.