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Grossi will offer a press conference after his return from Iran (Christian Bruna / AFP)
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, began meetings with officials in Tehran on Sunday, before the expiration of a deadline set by Iran to reduce the work of international inspectors in case the US sanctions are not lifted. . Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that Tehran’s decision does not mean abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal.
In an interview with Iranian television today, Sunday, Zarif said that Tehran’s decision to end surprise inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency as of February 23 does not mean abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal, but Washington should lift sanctions on Tehran to save the country. agreement.
Zarif criticized the administration of US President Joe Biden, saying, “In fact, they are following the same policy of maximum pressure” that his predecessor, Donald Trump, followed. He added: “All the steps we have taken (outside the scope of the nuclear deal) can be reversed … The United States should go back to the agreement and lift all sanctions … The United States is addicted to imposing sanctions, but You must know that Iran does not it will give in to pressure. “
To that, Grossi arrived in Tehran on Saturday night, and this morning he met with the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, according to television channels. Neither the agency nor the Iranian authorities specified whether Grossi’s agenda includes other meetings, before concluding his visit today.
The director of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency will hold a press conference tonight in the Austrian capital, following his return from Iran.
Tehran emphasizes the priority of lifting sanctions and emphasizes that it will return to its obligations should the United States do so. Under a law passed by the Iranian parliament in December, the Iranian government must suspend the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on the Limitation of Nuclear Weapons in the event that Washington does not lift the sanctions before February 21. This will restrict some aspects of the activity of the agency’s inspectors, who were informed by Tehran that the step would take effect in 23 of them. Grossi said the goal of his visit was to reach “a mutually acceptable solution, consistent with Iranian law, for the International Atomic Energy Agency to continue its basic verification activities in Iran.” “I hope (achieve) success, that is in everyone’s interest,” he added.
(Reuters, AFP)
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