BERLIN: The head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency will head to Tehran next week to press Iranian authorities for access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material, the organization said on Saturday. It will be the first visit to Iran of International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi since he took office last December, and comes amid intense international pressure on the country over its nuclear program.
The focus will be on access to sites thought to be from the early 2000s, before Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran maintains the IAEA inspectors have no legal basis to inspect the sites.
“My objective is that my meetings in Tehran will lead to concrete progress in addressing the outstanding questions that the agency has related to safeguards in Iran and, in particular, to resolve the issue of access,” Grossi said in a statement.
“I also hope to establish a fruitful and cooperative channel of direct dialogue with the Iranian government which will be valuable now and in the future.”The Iranian delegation to international organizations in Vienna tweeted that “we hope this visit will lead to reinforced mutual cooperation.”
Since President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, the other countries involved — France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China — have been struggling to keep it alive. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.