IAEA: Without Tehran’s Commitment, There Will Be No Agreement

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends a news conference during a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/Files
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends a news conference during a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/Files
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IAEA: Without Tehran’s Commitment, There Will Be No Agreement

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends a news conference during a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/Files
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends a news conference during a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/Files

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stressed that without the commitment of Tehran and the cooperation of all parties, no agreement would be reached in the Vienna talks.

He added that the IAEA was intensifying its efforts to support reaching an agreement and to ensure its implementation, noting that talks were moving in the right direction despite the difficult challenges.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya channel on Saturday, Grossi said that reaching an agreement within days was complicated, but not impossible, adding that the next few days would clarify where the current efforts would lead.

The difficulties persist and exist, but the parties should work on solving them one by one, according to the IAEA chief.

Grossi pointed out that the agency was concerned about the presence of undeclared nuclear materials in Iranian sites. He called on Iran to cooperate and allow full access to the monitoring and surveillance equipment on Iranian nuclear facilities, stressing that without the commitment of the Iranian authorities and the cooperation of all parties, there would be no agreement.

The United States, as well as diplomats from key countries, including France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China, have repeatedly warned Tehran that time was running out, and that the next few weeks would be crucial in reviving the agreement that was abandoned in 2018 by the former US administration of Donald Trump.

However, the Iranian authorities are still insisting on some conditions that constitute a major obstacle to reaching a solution, including the request to provide guarantees that the US administration would not withdraw from any new agreement, as well as the lifting of all sanctions imposed on the country, especially those related to terrorism.

For his part, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday that Tehran had the right to continue nuclear research and development, adding that this matter could not be restricted by any agreement.

Shamkhani wrote on his Twitter account: “Iran’s legal right to continue research and development and to maintain its peaceful nuclear capabilities and achievements, along with its security against supported evils, cannot be restricted by any agreement.”

He added: “Real, effective and verifiable economic benefit for Iran is a necessary condition for the formation of an agreement. The show of lifting sanctions is not considered constructive.”



Ukrainian Attack on Beach in Russia’s Kursk Kills Three, Regional Governor Says

 A military car drives on a road under anti-drone nets installed by Ukrainian servicemen at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region on July 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A military car drives on a road under anti-drone nets installed by Ukrainian servicemen at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region on July 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Ukrainian Attack on Beach in Russia’s Kursk Kills Three, Regional Governor Says

 A military car drives on a road under anti-drone nets installed by Ukrainian servicemen at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region on July 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A military car drives on a road under anti-drone nets installed by Ukrainian servicemen at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region on July 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

A Ukrainian drone attack on a beach in the Russian city of Kursk killed three people, including a Russian serviceman engaged in rescue operations, and injured seven, acting regional Governor Alexander Khinshtein said early on Wednesday. 

Khinshtein, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the attack had been carried out deliberately in an area frequented by families in the region that borders Ukraine. 

Five of the seven injured, including a 5-year-old child, were in a serious condition in hospital. 

He said one of the dead was a member of Russia's National Guard who had been trying to evacuate people from the scene. 

"He had arrived at the beach with his comrades after people began reporting about the drone attack," Khinshtein said. "The senior sergeant had begun to evacuate people when a second explosion occurred. Unfortunately, he did not survive." 

Reuters could not independently verify the account and there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. 

Khinshtein also said a Ukrainian drone had attacked a hospital in the town of Rylsk, closer to the Ukrainian border than the city of Kursk, injuring two people, blowing out windows and setting a roof ablaze. 

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of targeting civilians in the course of the war, now well into its fourth year, something that both sides deny. 

Ukrainian forces staged a large incursion into the Kursk region nearly a year ago. The Kremlin has said all Kyiv's forces have since been ejected from the region, but Ukrainian officials say their troops are still carrying out operations there.