Iran may be ready to resume talks on its nuclear program, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi. Tehran is showing “signs of willingness to work again not only with the IAEA, but also (…) with our former partners in the 2015 nuclear agreement,” Grossi told the AFP news agency on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday. “It’s a moment where there is an opportunity to do something,” he added.
In his statements, Grossi referred to a conversation with Iran’s new Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who played a key role in the negotiations over the limits of Iran’s nuclear program.
The USA, France, Great Britain, Germany as well as Russia and China concluded a nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015. It was intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. In 2018, the USA under its then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement. As a result, Iran gradually stopped adhering to its obligations. Since then, negotiations to revive the agreement have remained fruitless.
Iran’s newly elected President Massoud Peseschkian recently spoke out in favor of starting constructive talks with the EU in order to end his country’s isolation. He also says he is striving to revive the nuclear agreement.
Araghchi has the advantage “that he knows everything about this process, so we can move forward more quickly,” Grossi told AFP. In his opinion, it is the intention of President Peseschkian and Foreign Minister Araghchi to move things “in a positive way.”
However, Tehran is not ready to go back on its decision last year to withdraw the accreditation of some IAEA inspectors. Grossi announced that he would continue to campaign for the inspectors to be reinstated. He added that he would visit Tehran in the “coming weeks.”
According to the IAEA, Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state that has uranium enriched to 60 percent and is accumulating large reserves of uranium. The country is now on its way to enriching uranium to the 90 percent level necessary for nuclear weapons. Nuclear power plants only require uranium enriched to 3.67 percent. The 2015 nuclear deal stipulated that Iran was not allowed to cross this limit.
Grossi did not want to comment on the extent to which a new agreement would have to be based on the 2015 guidelines. “Will it be the same? Will it be updated? Will it be something completely different? They have to decide that,” he said, referring to the negotiating partners.
