IAEA chief had ‘very good’ talks, plans to visit Iran
‘No secret backchannel’ between Tehran, Washington
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that the level of dialogue and engagement with “Tehran and Iran’s Foreign Minister (Seyed Abbas Araghchi) is very good,” expressing willingness to visit the country.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Grossi announced that the IAEA’s comprehensive report on Iran would be released before June. “It would be a good idea to visit Iran before publishing this report,” he added.
Earlier, Reuters cited Grossi as saying that during their last conversation, Araghchi had invited the IAEA director general to visit Tehran again.
However, the director general expressed concern about “the lack of communication between Iran and the US”.
Reacting to reports about the alleged exchanging of messages between Iran and the US through third-party countries, he said: “I have spoken seriously with others about this issue — there is no backchannel communication between Iran and the US”.
The IAEA chief also reiterated his support for the US president’s willingness to reach a new agreement with Iran, again stating: “I know that Iran wants an agreement.”
While there are many beliefs regarding Iran’s desires and aims, one thing is certain: The Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has firmly rejected negotiations with the Trump administration as “unwise, unintelligent, and dishonorable.”
“Negotiating with America… will not solve any of our problems. The reason? Experience!” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
This official stance was reiterated by many other high-ranking officials in Tehran, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and his foreign minister.
When asked about the conditions of a potential deal between Iran and world powers — including broader IAEA access to sites not covered under the JCPOA — Grossi responded: “Different people have different conditions for an agreement. The next agreement will be different, but I am not aware of whether it will be broader.”
US President Donald Trump recently revived his maximum pressure campaign against Iran, even though Iran had for a long time expressed its willingness to reach a new deal and adhered to all safeguard commitments.
Without acknowledging these nuances, the IAEA chief claimed: “The progress of Iran’s nuclear program makes the problems bigger, not smaller.”
Asked about Iran’s implementation of Code 3.1, which obliges Iran to inform on plans/construction of new facilities, he dismissed it as mere “legal impatience”. “It cannot be excluded,” he stressed, that Iran has built new facilities.
Iran has repeatedly said that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, stressing its nuclear technology is solely for civil purposes. Ayatollah Khamenei even issued a Fatwa that bans any possession and use of weapons of mass destruction.
Once again, without addressing US obstructionism and its anti-Iran actions, including the imposition of illegal and unilateral sanctions, Grossi called for “engagement” between Washington and Tehran.
He stated: “Our failure to move toward negotiations is problematic. We need to take action and move toward talks.”
Grossi admitted that he had not spoken with officials from the Trump administration or Trump himself but expressed hope that this would change in the near future.