International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi is set to discuss Iran's controversial nuclear program in Tehran on Thursday, according to Reuters.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, will visit Iran next Wednesday and commence consultations with Iranian officials the following day, as reported by state media on Sunday. Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mentioned on Wednesday that he might travel to Iran in the coming days to address its disputed nuclear program, expressing his expectation to work cooperatively with US President-elect Donald Trump.
Persistent issues between Iran, the IAEA, and Western nations include Tehran's refusal to allow uranium-enrichment experts from IAEA inspection teams into the country and its failure to account for uranium traces found at undisclosed sites. Since 2019, Iran has intensified its nuclear activities after then-President Trump withdrew from a 2015 agreement Iran had reached with world powers. Under this deal, Iran had agreed to limit its enrichment activities—viewed by the West as a covert attempt to develop nuclear weapons capability—in exchange for the lifting of harsh US sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Tehran is currently enriching uranium to up to 60 percent fissile purity, nearing the approximately 90 percent required for an atomic bomb. According to an IAEA benchmark, Iran has enough higher-enriched uranium to produce about four nuclear bombs if further refined. Iran has consistently denied any intentions to develop nuclear weapons, asserting that its uranium enrichment is solely for civilian energy purposes.
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