IAEA Chief: More Interaction with Iran Important

By Staff, Agencies 

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed that it is important to keep interacting with Iran despite slim chances of reviving the US-abandoned nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers.

“Probably there could be a return to the negotiating table, but if the interactions between Iran and the agency are seen or assessed as bad and the cooperation is not good, the chances are zero,” said in an interview with CBC News.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday that the course of Tehran's cooperation with the IAEA within technical frameworks will soon witness great progress.

He said Tehran is exchanging messages with Washington through various channels on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and the removal of the US sanctions.

Amir Abdollahian noted that “a good development has taken place in the course of cooperation” between the Islamic Republic and the UN nuclear agency, noting that Iran had always been critical of IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s politically-charged approach towards the country and that he has even brought up the issue in a face-to-face meeting with him.

Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing a nuclear deal in 2015, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], with six world powers. However, Washington’s exit in May 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.

Negotiations kicked off in the Austrian capital city of Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of removing anti-Iran sanctions and examining the United States’ seriousness in rejoining the accord.