A senior official of the United Nations nuclear guard will go to Iran for talks on Monday, but no visit to nuclear sites is planned, Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.
Given that Israel launched its first military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during a 12 -day war in June, the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could not access Iranian facilities, despite the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, indicating that the inspections remain his priority.
Iran accused the agency of effectively opening the way to bombing by publishing an overwhelming report on May 31, which led the Governors’ Council of 35 AIAA countries to declare Iran in violation of its non-proliferation obligations.
Iran, which denies in search of nuclear weapons, said that it remained attached to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (TNP).
“Negotiations with the IAEA will be held tomorrow to determine a cooperation framework,” said Araghchi on his telegram account.
“An deputy director general of Grosi will come to Tehran tomorrow, when it is not planned to visit nuclear sites before having reached a framework.”
Last month, Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, citing the agency’s failure to condemn Israeli and American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
The attack on Israel has derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which started in April.
The talks were the highest contact between Tehran and Washington since the abandonment of the United States in 2018, a historic agreement on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Since the 12-day war, Iran has required guarantees against military action before regaining negotiations with the United States.
Araghchi recently declared that Iran had “received messages” on the American side on the resumption of talks, and on Sunday, he said that “nothing had been finalized” on this subject.
On July 25, Iranian diplomats met with counterparts from Germany, Great Britain and France who threatened to trigger sanctions against Tehran by the end of August if it failed to conclude an agreement on its nuclear program.
The so-called “snapback mechanism” would restore the UN sanctions in the context of a Moribonde nuclear agreement of 2015 between Iran and the world powers.
The option expires in October and Tehran warned against the consequences if it is activated.
“Our contact with Europeans is underway,” said Araghchi on Sunday, adding that a date for the next series of talks has not yet been set.
