IAEA Team to Visit Tehran in Coming Days

Head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, visits Isfahan last Tuesday. (dpa)
Head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, visits Isfahan last Tuesday. (dpa)
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IAEA Team to Visit Tehran in Coming Days

Head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, visits Isfahan last Tuesday. (dpa)
Head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, visits Isfahan last Tuesday. (dpa)

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Tehran in the coming days to finalize a draft text on the implementation of an agreement that will address all outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian news outlets said on Sunday.

The official IRNA news agency said Iran and the Agency are working to finalize a draft text for bilateral cooperation, before head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, presents his quarterly report on Iran's nuclear activities at the quarterly meeting of the Agency's 35-nation, Board of Governors (BoG), which begins on June 3.

At a meeting last February, major powers demanded that Grossi provide an early report on Iranian activities to discuss possible action against Tehran.

Grossi flew to Iran last week, 14 months after the two sides had reached an agreement over unresolved issues, particularly an investigation into unexplained uranium traces found at two out of three Iranian sites the IAEA team inspected after months of stonewalling.

Despite the agreement, the IAEA still faces a range of difficulties in Iran, including the fact Tehran only implemented a small fraction of what Grossi thought it committed to in a “Joint Statement” on future cooperation they made in March 2023.

According to IRNA, the IAEA team will discuss in Tehran three main issues. The first part concerns past issues that were closed in the 2015 nuclear deal in the form of the PMD (Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program) file. In this part, the two sides will discuss the unexplained uranium traces the IAEA found at two Iranian sites.

The second part concerns current conditions at the framework of compliance found in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its annexes.

And the third part concerns the person of the Director General of the IAEA, who must act as a facilitator and mediator to remove obstacles and resolve issues, which are mainly political, in a constructive and successful manner within the framework of the Agency’s professional responsibility, said IRNA.

The three issues were raised last Tuesday by Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami in Isfahan during a press conference with Grossi, who stressed “we do not seek to have a new document” after agreeing with his Iranian counterpart to activate a March 2023 joint statement as a path forward for cooperation between the IAEA and Iran.

Grossi later said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that at his meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, he proposed “concrete practical measures” with the “aim of restoring process of confidence building and increasing transparency.”

For his part, Abdollahian emphasized that the IAEA must take unbiased and professional positions.



Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
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Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Friday ahead of fresh nuclear talks with the United States, after both sides said progress had been made in previous rounds.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X that "Araghchi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Muscat for the third round of Iran-US talks".

Iran's Mehr news agency released a brief video showing the foreign minister disembarking from an Iranian government plane in Muscat.

Baqaei said Araghchi would be leading the delegation of diplomats and technical experts in the indirect discussions with the US side.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States in the talks.

The latest round will include expert-level talks on Iran's nuclear program, with Michael Anton, who serves as the State Department's head of policy planning, leading the technical discussions on the US side, the department said.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian technical team.

Baqaei wrote on X that Iran's delegation is "resolved to secure our nation's legitimate and lawful right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our program is entirely peaceful".

"Termination of unlawful and inhumane sanctions in an objective and speedy manner is a priority that we seek to achieve," he added.

According to Baqaei, the dialogue will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Saturday morning.

The meeting follows two earlier rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations in Muscat and Rome starting on April 12.

- Calling for 'goodwill' -

Since his return to office in January, Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Baqaei earlier Friday said "progress in the negotiations requires the demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism by the other side".

Iran will treat Saturday's talks seriously, Araghchi said in a recent interview, "and if the other party also enters seriously, there is potential for progress".

In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal signed three years earlier between Tehran and major world powers. The agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

After Trump's pullout, Tehran complied with the agreement for a year before scaling back its compliance.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

In an interview published by Time Magazine on Friday, Trump said the United States will "lead the pack" in attacking Iran if nuclear talks do not lead to a new deal.

But he expressed hope that an agreement could be reached and said he would be willing to meet Khamenei.