‘Dire straits dynamic’ with Iran’s nuclear program amid wars in the Middle East

BAKU – The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tuesday he is hopeful that meetings this week with Iranian officials, including the country’s new president, could lead to a breakthrough in oversight of the country’s nuclear program, a long standing issue that has taken on new urgency while Israel has hit Iran twice increasing tensions in the Middle East.

Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will travel to Iran on Wednesday to meet for the first time President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was elected in July. Grossi said he hopes to build on the positive conversations he had with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the UN General Assembly in September.

“We have a problem that we have to solve,” Grossi said in an interview with the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan. “That is this gap, this lack of trust, that we cannot allow to become a self-fulfilling prophecy of the use of nuclear facilities as targets.”

He added: “There are difficult dynamics with Iran that we want to overcome.”

According to the IAEA, Iran is rapidly advancing its nuclear program while increasing stockpiles of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, all in defiance of international demands. Iran says its program is for energy purposes, not for building weapons.

Grossi’s visit comes as Israel and Iran have traded rocket attacks in recent months after more than a year of war in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, a group backed by Iran.

Grossi noted that international law prohibits the attack on nuclear facilities and “it is clear that this is something that could have radiological consequences.” The Biden administration said last month that this was the case received guarantees from Israel that it would not attack nuclear or oil sites.

A 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers set limits on Iran’s nuclear program, which the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons. The agreement included the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran.

But that deal collapsed after Donald Trump’s administration pulled the United States out in 2018. That prompted Iran to abandon all limits on its program and enrich uranium to a purity of up to 60%.

Asked whether the IAEA feared Iran might be developing a bomb, Grossi said he had “no information whatsoever to support this.” He added that the inspectors’ job was not to “assess intentions” but rather to verify whether what Iran says about its nuclear program was true.

Trump’s re-election last week raises questions whether and how the new government and Iran can engage.

Grossi said he had worked with the first Trump administration, which he said engaged in “seamless, professional work,” and that he looked forward to working with the second Trump administration.

“Circumstances have changed because the problem has become bigger than it was,” Grossi said. “The problem of not finding a solution.”

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