'Information bleeding stopped' - progress in nuclear talks with Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has made progress in its negotiations with Iran over inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities. IAEA Director Rafael Grossi said on Saturday after returning from a two-day visit to Iran that Tehran had agreed to restart surveillance cameras at several nuclear facilities. Iran has also agreed to more frequent inspections by the IAEA.

Tehran severely restricted inspections last year and switched off surveillance cameras. After his return to Vienna, Grossi spoke of a "significant improvement" in terms of control of the Iranian nuclear program. It had been agreed “that the cameras and surveillance systems would operate again”. This should be implemented "very soon".

In addition, the frequency of inspections in the underground nuclear facility near the city of Fordo should be increased by 50 percent, Grossi told journalists at Vienna Airport. Near-weapons-grade uranium particles had recently been discovered at the facility, adding to Western concerns. According to the IAEA, the particles were enriched to almost 84 percent. Uranium enriched to around 90 percent is required to build atomic bombs.

Iran denies acquiring nuclear weapons and says "unintentional fluctuations" in uranium enrichment may have occurred. So far, Tehran has “made no attempt to enrich to more than 60 percent,” the spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency was quoted as saying in state media.

In the international nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, a threshold of 3.67 percent was agreed for uranium enrichment. The agreement is on hold, the negotiations on its revival, which began almost two years ago, are stuck. Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the laboriously negotiated agreement in 2108. As a result, Iran gradually withdrew from its obligations under the agreement.

IAEA boss Grossi called the agreements he has now reached with Tehran "very, very important (...)" - especially with regard to a possible revival of the nuclear agreement. “We stopped the information bleeding (...) – now we can start working again. These aren't words, they're something very concrete," emphasized Grossi.

At a press conference in Tehran, Grossi had already praised his talks with Iranian representatives as "constructive". He is certain that this will pave the way for "important agreements" in the nuclear dispute.

Grossi met President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, among others. The head of the Iranian nuclear agency, Mohammed Eslami, assured that Iran would "continue" to cooperate with the IAEA. According to a senior official at Iran's presidential office, Raisi said that this cooperation is a "two-way street" and can continue as long as "the rights of the Iranian nation" are protected.