IAEA chief says likely to visit Iran soon

“We are already talking to colleagues in Iran for my next visit maybe in a few days. We still have to confirm the time but this will be done,” he told a news conference in Rome after a nuclear energy event.

Without confirming it, Iranian officials have welcomed a visit from Grossi, saying Tehran is ready to cooperate with the IAEA to resolve outstanding issues, without giving details.

In September, Grossi had stated that he hopes to hold talks with new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian by November on “improving Iran’s collaboration with the atomic agency”.

He added that the new Iranian president agreed to meet him “at an appropriate juncture”.

Iran has proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was a multilateral international agreement signed between Iran and five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany in 2015, which required Iran to scale back some of its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of cruel sanctions imposed on the country, especially by the United States.

However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the UNSC-endorsed agreement in May 2018, imposing severe economic sanctions against Tehran while Iran was adhering to its commitments under the deal and even continued to do so for a year after the US withdrawal.

Tehran started to reduce its commitments under the deal in a series of pre-announced and clear steps after witnessing the other parties’ failure to secure its interests under the agreement.