United Nations Nuclear Chief Rafael Grossi will travel to Tehran, capital of Iran on Monday for high-level talks on inspections at suspected nuclear sites, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in Vienna.
For months, IAEA inspectors have been blocked from visiting two sites where nuclear materials are suspected to have been used in the past.
Satellite images suggest that these sites have been sanitised to remove traces of past activities, according to an IAEA report.
“I have decided to come personally to Tehran so that I can reinforce the importance of cooperation,” Grossi said in a statement.
It will be Grossi’s first visit to Tehran since he took office in December.
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The statement did not mention Tehran’s alleged breaking of several provisions of the 2015 deal with major powers, which was mean to limit Iran’s nuclear activities and prevent the country from getting closer to an atomic weapon.
The question of the inspections at the two sites is not directly related to the nuclear deal.
Grossi’s trip comes only days after the U.S. demanded that a punishing UN sanctions regime be reimposed on Iran.
The move is being opposed by Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – the five powers that remain parties to the 2015 pact after the U.S. withdrew in 2018.
AFP