A top International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official will travel to Tehran on Monday for a dialogue with Iranian officials, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed on Sunday. The visit will not, however, feature any inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, at least initially.
The visit is on the backdrop of continued tensions after a 12-day war in June, during which Israel carried out military airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. Since then, IAEA inspectors have been prevented from visiting these facilities. IAEA director Rafael Grossi has stressed time and again that the renewal of inspections is an agency priority.
Iran has also sharply condemned the IAEA, accusing it of aiding Israeli attacks by making a critical report on May 31. The report led to the IAEA’s Board of Governors of 35 countries formally stating that Iran was in contravention of its non-proliferation obligations. Tehran is said to have no plan of achieving nuclear weapons and insists that it is upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In a message he sent on his Telegram channel, Araghchi wrote that the talks on Monday are for setting the stage for cooperation between Iran and the IAEA. He further stated that a Deputy Director General from the agency would chair the talks but insisted that no inspections would be conducted until there is a mutual agreement.
Iran last month enacted a law that suspended cooperation with the IAEA. The law stipulates that all inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities in the future need to be approved by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council, which makes it harder to resume monitoring efforts.
The next round of talks will be monitored closely with the international community looking for clarity in Iran’s nuclear program in light of increased regional tensions and sustained diplomatic efforts at derailing further escalation.
