Chief of International Atomic Energy Agency Travels to Iran

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Monday evening, December 1st, to discuss disagreements over technical issues related to the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA.

Rafael Grossi is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Mohammad Eslami, Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, and for the first time with Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister.

The Agency’s Director General complained last week about restrictions imposed on the Agency’s work in Iran and that his inspectors have been subjected to “excessive physical searches” by Iranian security forces for months.

Moreover, Mr. Grossi stated that Tehran has violated a monitoring agreement concerning the advanced uranium enrichment centrifuge manufacturing workshop. Iran has rejected Grossi’s criticisms.

Ahead of this trip, which is his second visit to Tehran in the past three months, the Agency’s Director General said he wants to raise these issues with Iran’s leaders and is “hopeful” of finding solutions.

His trip to Tehran comes ahead of a Board of Governors meeting, and Mr. Grossi is scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday after returning from this visit to discuss the results of his negotiations with Islamic Republic officials.

Following a decline in Iran’s cooperation with the Agency and Tehran’s failure to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the origin of enriched uranium traces at several undeclared sites, speculation about the Board of Governors’ response has increased.

Reuters news agency has predicted that the Agency’s Board of Governors meeting this week will likely pass a resolution against Iran.

One week after the upcoming Board of Governors meeting and Mr. Grossi’s trip to Tehran, the seventh round of talks to revive the JCPOA is scheduled to resume from December 8th (November 29th) in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Source: Radio Farda