The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has said he has held “constructive” talks with Iranian officials in Tehran.
His two-day visit came as the Vienna-based organization seeks increased cooperation with Iran over its nuclear activities amid the discovery of uranium particles enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Grossi’s series of meetings included Iran’s top nuclear official, Mohammad Eslami, and President Ebrahim Raisi.
After returning to Vienna on Saturday, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Tehran had agreed to reconnect surveillance cameras at several nuclear facilities and increase the pace of inspections.
“There was a reduction in some of the monitoring activities, related to cameras, related to online enrichment mechanisms, in terms of flow monitoring systems, which did not work. So we have agreed that they will work again,” he said.
In addition, the number of visits to the underground facility in Fordo, where the enriched particles were discovered, will increase by 50 percent.
Paving the way for important agreements
Grossi added that the talks could pave the way for the revival of a landmark 2015 agreement with six world powers, under which Iran curbed its disputed uranium enrichment program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
That agreement fell apart in 2018 when the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the pact under then-President Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions. This prompted Tehran to begin violating the accord’s strict limits on enrichment.