Iran faces U.N. pressure on nuke sites

BERLIN — The head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency will head to Tehran this 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 Saturday.

It will be the first visit to Iran by Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, since he took office last December, and will take place as international pressure mounts 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 U.N. inspectors have no legal basis to visit the sites.

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 U.S. 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, promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But with the reinstatement of some American sanctions, Iran’s economy has been steadily deteriorating and Tehran has begun violating provisions of the agreement to try to pressure the other countries to do more to offset those sanctions.