UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Saturday he had "constructive" talks with Iranian officials in Tehran after the discovery of uranium particles enriched to near weapons-grade level. He called for more transparency to some of the activities related to Iran's nuclear program. The two-day visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) comes as the Vienna-based organization seeks greater cooperation with Iran over its nuclear activities. "By having a constructive discussion and having good agreements, like I am sure we are going to have, we are going to be paving the way for important agreements," Grossi told a news conference alongside Iran's top nuclear official Mohammad Eslami. Grossi arrived Friday in Iran amid deadlock in negotiations on reviving a landmark 2015 accord on Iran's nuclear activity, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. The head of the global nuclear watchdog held talks in Tehran in an effort to reach an understanding with Iran on nuclear safeguard issues that could also affect the country's 2015 nuclear deal, which collapsed in 2018. Grossi also met with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, before meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi "presented cooperation as a two-sided affair which can continue based on maintaining the independence of the agency and realizing the rights of the Iranian people," the president's deputy for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, said. The trip, the first in months, comes days ahead of the IAEA's next Board of Governors meeting on Monday, where there is a chance the United States and its European allies could pursue another resolution to censure Iran. Amid reports that it has opposed a European push for another resolution, Washington has said it will wait for the results of Grossi's trips to decide its next move. Eslami told reporters on Saturday that Tehran will announce a response if the Western parties to the nuclear deal decide to move ahead with what would be their third resolution in the past year. Iran boosted its nuclear enrichment efforts and curbed IAEA monitoring in response to the previous two resolutions. The agency confirmed last week that traces of uranium enriched to the near-weapons grade level of 84 percent have been found in Iran and that it will need to discuss this further with Tehran. Iranian officials have said the fact that "particles" of higher-enriched materials have been found does not mean it is actively enriching beyond its declared 60 percent level, something Eslami reiterated on Saturday. "We are committed to our safeguards agreement with the agency and we won't allow any elements or actions to undermine this cooperation, so our work will continue and we won't allow any non-compliance to cause a lack of trust," Eslami said during the press conference. Grossi said work on several issues, including unexplained materials found several years ago in three Iranian sites, is continuing and results can only be confirmed at the end of the talks. — Agencies
