VIENNA — The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Mariano Grossi, announced on Sunday that he will travel to Iran in the coming days to discuss the country’s nuclear program. The visit takes place amid rising tensions in the Middle East due to the Israel-Hamas war and uncertainties about how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will engage with Iran once he takes office in January. Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is set to meet with Iranian officials for high-level discussions and technical talks focused on the nuclear cooperation agreement signed between Iran and the IAEA in March 2023. This agreement aims to address concerns related to Iran’s nuclear activities, with a particular focus on expanding inspections and clarifying unresolved issues about potential undeclared nuclear activity. Under the 2023 statement, Iran pledged to resolve outstanding issues about sites where IAEA inspectors had raised concerns and to allow the agency to enhance its verification and monitoring activities. Grossi stated that his visit to Tehran is crucial for making substantial progress on implementing these commitments. Recent IAEA reports have indicated that Iran is rapidly advancing its nuclear program, including increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels. Grossi has warned that Iran currently has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to potentially produce several nuclear bombs. He has also acknowledged the difficulty in guaranteeing that no centrifuges may have been diverted for clandestine enrichment activities. The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, collapsed after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under President Trump. Since then, Iran has progressively expanded its nuclear program, enriching uranium to higher levels, with current stockpiles nearing 60% purity, which is a significant step closer to the 90% required for weapons-grade uranium. — Agencies
