VIENNA,Sept 13,2021:The U.N. atomic watchdog reached an settlement with Iran on Sunday to unravel “probably the most pressing situation” between them, the overdue servicing of monitoring equipment to keep it running, raising hopes of fresh talks on a wider deal with the West.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi obtained the agreement in a last-minute trip to Tehran he called “constructive” earlier than a gathering of his company’s 35-nation Board of Governors this week at which Western powers have been threatening to hunt a decision criticising Iran for stonewalling the IAEA.
A decision risked an escalation with Tehran that would kill the prospect of resuming wider, oblique talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, geared toward preserving Iran at arm’s size from with the ability to develop a nuclear weapon if it selected to. It denies ever wanting to take action.
Those talks stopped in June, and Iran’s hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, took workplace in August. Western powers have urged Iran to return to negotiations and mentioned time is working out as its nuclear programme is advancing properly past the bounds set by the deal, which Washington deserted in 2018.
“This shouldn’t be a everlasting answer, this can’t be a everlasting answer. This has at all times been seen, for me a minimum of, as a stopgap, as a measure to permit time for diplomacy,” Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport after his trip.
He added: “We managed to rectify the most urgent issue: The imminent loss of knowledge we were confronted with until yesterday. Now we have a solution.”
The coordinator of the now-stalled nuclear talks, European Union political director Enrique Mora, mentioned on Twitter that the settlement “offers area for diplomacy”, adding that it was crucial for the talks to resume as soon as possible.
