On Monday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog, is scheduled to travel to Iran, where he will likely give a speech at a conference and meet with officials to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has criticized Iran for its lack of cooperation on inspections and other unresolved concerns, and the visit coincides with heightened tensions in the region.
The IAEA’s chief, Grossi, is scheduled to speak at Iran’s inaugural International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology.
The three-day event, which starts on Monday, is being held in Isfahan province, home to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant and where strikes attributed to Israel hit last month.
Following the claimed attack on Isfahan, which was generally interpreted as Israel’s response to Iran’s first-ever direct attack on its arch enemy days earlier—which was reprisal for a deadly strike on Tehran’s Damascus consulate—IAEA and Iranian officials declared “no damage” to nuclear facilities.
Grossi is scheduled to meet with Iranian officials during his visit, including Mohammad Eslami, the country’s nuclear chief.
On Wednesday Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said he was “sure that these negotiations will further help clear ambiguities, and we will be able to strengthen our relations with the agency”.
Iran in recent years has deactivated IAEA monitoring devices at nuclear facilities and barred inspectors, according to the UN agency.
Grossi last visited Iran in March 2023 and met with top officials including President Ebrahim Raisi.
