IAEA chief due in Iran Wednesday for talks on nuclear issues

TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) — Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi is scheduled to arrive here Wednesday night for talks on unresolved nuclear issues, the official news agency IRNA reported Sunday.
Grossi’s visit, to take place at Iran’s official invitation, would be aimed at holding talks with high-ranking Iranian officials starting Thursday, the report said.
The visit will come as several outstanding issues remain unresolved between Tehran and the IAEA, including the agency’s claim to have found “traces of uranium” at a number of “undeclared” Iranian sites, which Iran has repeatedly rejected, and the move by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to dismiss a number of the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspectors last year.
On Nov. 17, 2022, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany that called on Tehran to collaborate with the agency’s investigators regarding the alleged “traces of uranium” at some of its “undeclared” sites.
Last year, the two sides reached an agreement in Tehran to have further interactions based on Iran’s cooperation and greater openness to the agency’s inspections.
Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for removing the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.
The talks on the revival of the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022. ■