Reuters/Dubai
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog visited two Iranian nuclear sites yesterday as part of a visit to Iran, ahead of an expected European diplomatic push over Tehran’s atomic activities before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
During the visit, Iran’s foreign minister told International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi that Tehran is willing to resolve outstanding disputes over its nuclear programme but won’t succumb to pressure.
Grossi visited the Natanz nuclear plant and the Fordow enrichment site, which is dug into a mountain around 100km south of the capital Tehran, state media reported, without giving details.
Relations between Tehran and the IAEA have soured over several long-standing issues including Iran barring the agency’s uranium-enrichment experts from the
country and its failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
“The ball is in the EU/E3 court,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X following talks in Tehran with Grossi on Thursday.
This handout picture provided by the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran yesterday, shows the organisation’s spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi (left) and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi (right), posing for a picture with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi (second left), in front of the gate of the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, near the city of Qom.