The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog visits Iran as Middle East wars and Trump’s return raise concerns

The IAEA’s Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Tehran in an effort to restore its inspectors’ access to the Iranian program and answer outstanding questions about it, as he has done on previous trips with limited success since Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear power plant of the Islamic Republic. dealing with world powers. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Thursday that the “space for negotiation and diplomacy … is shrinking” over Iran’s advancing nuclear program as wars continue in the Middle East and President Donald Trump will return to the White House.

The IAEA’s Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Tehran in an effort to restore its inspectors’ access to the Iranian program and answer outstanding questions about it, as he has done on previous trips with limited success since Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear power plant of the Islamic Republic. dealing with world powers.

However, comments from both Grossi and his Iranian counterpart at a news conference suggested that significant gaps remain, even as some countries push for action against Iran at an upcoming meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

“We know that it is indispensable to achieve at this moment some concrete, tangible and visible results that will indicate that this joint work improves the situation, clarifies matters and in general moves us away from conflict and ultimately from war ,” Grossi said.

Since the deal’s collapse in 2018, Iran has abandoned all restrictions on its program and is enriching uranium to a purity of 60% – almost 90% for weapons.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has banned some of the Vienna agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials have also increasingly threatened that they could pursue nuclear weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been concerned about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003.

Speaking at a press conference with Mohammad Eslami of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, Grossi emphasized that while the IAEA and Iran continued to negotiate, time was not necessarily on their side.

“The fact that there are international tensions and regional tensions – this shows that the space for negotiation and diplomacy is not expanding, but shrinking,” Grossi said.

Before appearing with Eslami, Grossi met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who later wrote on the social platform X that “differences can be resolved through cooperation and dialogue.” However, he warned that Tehran is “NOT willing to negotiate under pressure and intimidation.”

Some politicians have even suggested that Iran abandon the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, known as the NPT, and pursue the bomb. Araghchi called Iran “a committed member of the NPT,” although Eslami warned in his comments that Iran could retaliate if challenged at the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors meeting. Grossi acknowledged that some countries are considering taking action against Iran.

“We have repeatedly said that any resolution that attempts to intervene in the nuclear affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran will certainly be followed by immediate reciprocal steps and we will not allow them to exert this kind of pressure,” Eslami said.

Journalists at the press conference, as well as Eslami, criticized Israel for its long-term sabotage and assassination campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Some noted that Israeli officials had threatened Iran’s nuclear sites as targets for possible retaliation as Iran and Israel exchange direct strikes amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground and air offensive in Lebanon.

“The answer lies in what we do here, what we, the IAEA and Iran can do in terms of solving the current problems,” Grossi said, describing “a situation of tension” with Iran’s nuclear program at its center.

“I am here to work with Iran, to try to find adequate solutions to reduce tensions, to move forward. This is my goal. This is my concern. And I am confident that we will succeed,” the spokesperson said.

But when the two men ended the press conference amid loud questions from reporters, neither had given any sign that a breakthrough was imminent.

Grossi also met reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time on Thursday. He will visit Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear enrichment sites on Friday.

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.