Iran willing to negotiate with UN nuclear agency, but not ‘under pressure’

IAEA main Grossi visits Tehran for talks aimed astatine much monitoring practice astatine Iran’s atomic sites.

Iran is consenting to discuss pinch nan United Nations atomic watchdog complete its compliance pinch safeguards connected its atomic programme but will not do truthful “under unit and intimidation”, nan country’s apical diplomat says.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) main Rafael Grossi successful Tehran connected Thursday, describing their relationship arsenic “important and straightforward” successful a station connected X.

Grossi told Iranian officials that nan UN watchdog wants to spot “concrete, tangible and visible results” during discussions connected Iran’s atomic programme.

After nan meeting, Araghchi – who served arsenic Iran’s main negotiator successful nan talks that led to a 2015 atomic woody pinch world powers – said his state “has ne'er near nan speech array connected its peaceful” atomic programme.

“The shot is successful nan EU/E3 court,” Araghchi wrote, referring to nan United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Iran was “willing to discuss based connected our nationalist liking & our inalienable rights, but NOT fresh to discuss nether unit and intimidation”, he posted connected X.

In a associated news convention pinch Mohammad Eslami, nan caput of nan Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Grossi said that fixed nan “serious circumstances successful nan region”, he was wished to make nan talks “successful”.

The IAEA chief’s sojourn comes weeks earlier United States President-elect Donald Trump takes agency successful January.

During Trump’s erstwhile word arsenic president, nan US unilaterally withdrew from nan 2015 statement that saw Iran standard backmost its atomic programme successful speech for a lifting of world sanctions against its economy.

Eslami said he looked guardant to “mutually constructive and effective talks nether nan coming circumstances”.

But he warned of “immediate countermeasures” against immoderate solution by nan IAEA’s committee of governors that interfere pinch Iran’s atomic programme.

Grossi said, “The truth that world tensions and location tensions do beryllium – this shows that nan abstraction for speech and diplomacy is not getting bigger, it is getting smaller.”

The IAEA main is besides expected to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian, who told nan UN General Assembly successful September that he wants to unfastened a “constructive” section successful his country’s world relations and was “ready to engage” pinch nan West complete Iran’s atomic programme.

Before his trip, Grossi had appealed to Iran’s leaders to return steps to resoluteness longstanding issues pinch his agency, including a push for much monitoring cooperation astatine atomic sites and an mentation of uranium traces recovered astatine alleged undeclared sites.

But small has travel from his efforts and pinch nan return of Trump, who is wide expected to reconstruct a maximum unit argumentation connected Iran, Grossi’s travel should supply indications of really Iran wants to proceed successful nan coming months.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that while a batch was astatine liking during Grossi’s visit, nan anticipation of a breakthrough was “quite low”.

“There are awesome sticking points” betwixt nan 2 parties, he said, adding that nan “mistrust” is besides significant.

Aside from issues astir monitoring, nan IAEA is besides accusing Iran of denying UN atomic inspectors accreditation, Serdar reported.

“In turn, Iran is accusing nan IAEA of politicising nan process and behaving for illustration they are acting connected behalf of 3rd parties, peculiarly connected behalf of Israel,” he added. “Today we are not expecting this mistrust to beryllium overcome.”

Iran’s activity connected uranium enrichment has been seen by nan West arsenic a disguised effort to create atomic weapons capability. Tehran is now enriching uranium up to 60 percent fissile purity, adjacent to nan astir 90 percent required for a atomic bomb.

But Iran has agelong denied immoderate atomic explosive ambitions, saying it is enriching uranium for civilian power uses only.

Grossi has said that while Iran does not presently person a atomic weapon, it does person plentifulness of enriched uranium that could yet beryllium utilized to make one.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies