Time for negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to fully resume inspections in the Islamic Republic is running out, warned the director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
He expressed hope that the discussions would be concluded within days.
Iran suspended the IAEA's access to its strategic nuclear facilities after the US and Israel carried out air strikes on those sites in June. Following the attacks, Iran passed a law suspending its cooperation with the IAEA and said that all inspections would now have to be approved by the Supreme National Security Council.
The IAEA and Iran are currently negotiating the terms for a full resumption of inspections. Grossi said that regardless of the negotiations, Iran is obliged to allow various inspections as a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
"There is still time, but not much. Good will and a clear sense of responsibility are always enough," Grossi told a meeting of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors.
"Progress is there. "I sincerely hope that within the next few days it will be possible to reach a successful outcome of the discussions to facilitate the resumption, the full resumption of our indispensable joint work with Iran," Grossi added.
On August 28, three of Europe's leading powers began a procedure to reimpose sanctions on Iran, a process that will take 30 days.
The restrictions on the Islamic Republic were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers. Three years later, however, Donald Trump, then in his first term in office, withdrew the United States from the agreement, Reuters recalls.
France, Britain and Germany have said they will renew their sanctions if IAEA inspections in Iran are not fully resumed, if Tehran does not explain its large stockpiles of uranium with a purity close to that needed to produce nuclear weapons. weapons, and if the Islamic Republic does not resume its nuclear talks with the US.
Grossi today expressed confidence that the resumption of IAEA inspections, along with diplomatic consultations, would provide "a more promising basis on which to achieve positive results".
The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the talks with the IAEA as "positive", but added that a final decision and a specific timetable for the next round of talks had not yet been reached. "The third round of talks ended on Saturday and their results are currently being analyzed by the competent authorities in Tehran. We will announce the next steps when this review is completed," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference today.
Meanwhile, the Iranian national daily "Farikhtegan" spread the information that the Iranian government yesterday decided to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States. However, this information has not been officially confirmed by the Iranian authorities, Reuters notes.