Iran's foreign minister to meet IAEA chief in Egypt

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet on Tuesday with United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in Egypt, the first such meeting since Tehran suspended cooperation with the agency two months ago.

“During a trip to Cairo, a meeting will be held with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency to conclude negotiations on a new protocol for interaction between Iran and the Agency,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

Egypt’s foreign ministry confirmed the meeting would take place Tuesday, bringing together Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Araghchi, and Grossi.

It will be the first meeting between Tehran and the IAEA since Iran suspended cooperation following a 12-day war with Israel in June, during which Israeli and the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities.

Tehran has criticised the IAEA for failing to condemn those strikes and has said future cooperation with the agency will take “a new form”.

Last month, a team of IAEA inspectors briefly returned to Iran to oversee the replacement of fuel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant and departed shortly afterwards.

They were not granted access to other key sites, including Fordo and Natanz, which were hit during the conflict.

Iran is currently under growing pressure to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, as Britain, France, and Germany have initiated steps to reimpose UN sanctions under the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism.

The three European countries have warned they may trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism, citing Iran’s continued non-compliance with its nuclear commitments.

Iran has condemned the move as “illegal”, warning it would further undermine its cooperation with the IAEA.

Western powers have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons — a charge Tehran strongly denies, insisting its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.