Iran holds ‘fruitful’ talks with IAEA chief as deadline looms
TEHRAN: Iran said on Sunday it had held “fruitful discussions” with UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in Tehran, ahead of a deadline when it is set to restrict the agency’s inspections unless the United States lits painful sanctions.
Grossi’s visit comes amid stepped-up efforts between US President Joe Biden’s administration, European powers and Iran to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal that has been on the brink of collapse since Donald Trump withdrew from it.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javaf Zarif, who was to later meet Grossi, signalled that the Islamic republic wants to avoid an “impasse” but also warned that it could step further away from its commitments if Washington does not lit the sanctions.
Grossi, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Tehran late on Saturday and met the head of the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, early on Sunday.
“Iran and the IAEA held fruiful discussions based on mutual respect, the result of which will be released this evening,” Tehran’s ambassador to the UN agency Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on Twiter.
Grossi was due to hold a press conference when he returns to Vienna in the evening.
Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament months ago demanded that, if the US does not lit sanctions by this Sunday, Iran suspend some IAEA inspections from Tuesday.
But Iran has stressed it will not cease working with the IAEA or expel its inspectors.
Zarif told Iran’s Press TV on Sunday that he would talk to Grossi about implementing Iran’s law while making sure “not to create an impasse, so that he carries out the obligations to show that Iran’s nuclear programme remains peaceful.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said late on Saturday that the “IAEA’S inspection capability will be reduced by about 20-30 per cent ater the implementation of the parliament’s law.”
Iran has notified the UN body it will suspend “voluntary transparency measures” — notably inspection visits to non-nuclear sites, including military sites suspected of nuclear-related activity — if the US fails to lit the sanctions Trump reimposed in 2018.
Zarif said the law mandates the government “not to provide the tapes” of cameras at sites to the IAEA, adding that technical details would be discussed in Tehran.
“We are not violating the JCPOA, we are implementing remedial measures foreseen in the JCPOA itself,” Zarif insisted, referring to the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Once everybody implements their part and their obligations, then there will be talks, and those talks will not be about changing or adding to the agreement.”
Biden has commited to rejoin talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, in a shit away from Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” towards the Islamic republic.
Tehran has repeatedly said it is ready to return to its nuclear commitments, on the condition that Washington makes the first move by liting the sanctions that have heaped economic pain on Iran.