UN nuclear chief Grossi says results needed in dispute with Iran to avoid war

Tehran is willing to negotiate but not under pressure and intimidation

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi, left, met Iran's top leadership including Mohammad Eslami, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation. AFP

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday said “concrete, tangible, visible results” were needed in the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme to avoid a war, after he met top leaders in Tehran for talks on reviving a deal.

Mr Grossi, who began an official visit on Tuesday, is in the country for talks on allowing UN inspections of Tehran's nuclear compounds and resurrecting an agreement that collapsed in 2018. He met Iran's top leadership, including Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, the Tasnim news agency reported.

“We have a situation of tension,” Mr Grossi said. "The nuclear programme of Iran is at the centre of that. And I am here to work with Iran to find an adequate solution."

Mr Grossi is expected to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian later on Thursday. It is his second visit to Tehran this year. He said finding a solution to the nuclear dispute was crucial to “avoid the possibilities of war”.

“It is indispensable to get, at this point in time, to some concrete, tangible, visible results that will indicate that this joint work is improving the situation … and in a general sense is moving us away from conflict and ultimately war,” Mr Grossi said.

Iran is willing to resolve disputes with the IAEA over its compliance with safeguards for its atomic programme but will not do so under pressure, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after meeting Mr Grossi on Thursday.

Calling their discussions “important and straightforward”, Mr Araghchi said Iran will co-operate with the agency as a “committed member” of the international non-proliferation treaty.

“We agreed to proceed with courage and good will. Iran has never left the negotiation table on its peaceful nuclear programme,” Mr Araghchi wrote on X.

Tehran was willing to discuss the issue based on the “national interest” and “inalienable rights” but not “under pressure and intimidation”.

In a post on X, Mr Grossi described his meeting with Mr Araghchi as “indispensable”. Mr Araghchi was Iran's chief negotiator in talks that led to the 2015 nuclear deal, which collapsed in 2018 after US president-elect Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement during his first term in the White House. The decision led Iran to resume its nuclear programme by rolling back on its commitment.

Mr Grossi also reiterated his opposition to any military strike on nuclear sites as against international law. “I say this with regards to Iran, nuclear installations should not be attacked,” he said.

Before his visit, Mr Grossi had said it was imperative to “find ways to reach diplomatic solutions” as “margins for manoeuvre are beginning to shrink”.

His comments came amid fears that Israel could be preparing to launch air strikes on Iranian nuclear compounds. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Iran was “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities”.

Mr Grossi said he was hopeful of achieving a breakthrough on nuclear inspections after Iran denied access to its sites for IAEA inspectors.

The agency claims Iran has significantly expanded its stocks of uranium enriched to 60 per cent, closer to the 90 per cent level needed to make a nuclear bomb. But Iran insists it never left the negotiation table and blames Mr Trump.

“The one who left the agreement was not Iran, it was America,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Wednesday. “Mr Trump once tried the path of maximum pressure and saw that this path did not work.”

Mr Eslami said Iran will take “immediate countermeasures” against any resolution by the agency that interferes with Iran’s nuclear programme.