Grossi calls for “practical and tangible measures” to accelerate cooperation in talks in Tehran on Iran's nuclear program.
The head of the United Nations nuclear body has called on Iran to increase its efforts to make cooperation tangible and “concrete.”
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, urged Tehran on Tuesday to adopt “concrete” measures to foster collaboration. The UN is trying to restore oversight of Iran's atomic activities but has encountered several setbacks in how to implement a deal reached last year.
However, officials on both sides suggested there is some distance between their positions.
At a news conference in the Iranian city of Isfahan, Grossi said he had proposed in talks with Iranian officials to focus on “very practical and tangible measures that can be implemented to accelerate” cooperation.
“What we are analyzing are concrete measures that could make this [the deal] operational,” said the head of the IAEA.
Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, insisted that talks with Grossi had been positive and productive.
“We continue to interact on unresolved issues,” he said. “The important thing is that Mr. Grossi takes the necessary measures to resolve the problems that are mainly political.”
No new agreement
While both said there would be no immediate new agreement during Grossi's visit, they pointed to a March 2023 joint statement as a way forward for cooperation.
That statement included Iran's commitment to resolve issues related to sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity and to allow the IAEA to “implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”
Iran and the IAEA have often clashed over the U.N. agency's task of monitoring a nuclear program that Western nations suspect aims to eventually develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies wanting to build nuclear weapons.
Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, about 90 percent weapons grade. If that material were further enriched, it would be enough to make two nuclear weapons, according to official IAEA criteria. No other state has enriched itself to that level without using it to produce weapons.
Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it decides to do so.
He has acknowledged that the agency cannot guarantee that any of Iran's centrifuges have been removed for clandestine enrichment.
