NOURNEWS - Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with senior officials of our country on Saturday, March 5, during a short visit to Tehran to investigate three issues related to safeguards. Although talks on lifting sanctions in Vienna have yielded relatively good results, Iran has stated that reaching a final agreement requires settling and closing remaining issues between Iran and the Atomic Energy Organization. Iran's representatives at the Vienna talks repeatedly stressed that it is unfair to simultaneously accept the restrictions restrictions and intensified monitoring of Iran's nuclear program resulting from the implementation of the Iranian nuclear agreement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and continue the process of following up on the issue of safeguards that were previously closed and reopened politically. This cannot be done in any way. Grossi's visit to Tehran, which was followed by intense and difficult talks between representatives of our country and officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, provided the conditions for the parties to bypass this serious knot in the Vienna talks by drawing a clear roadmap. The joint statement issued by the Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency identified the main components of this road map. The joint statement stated that "Iran will provide the Agency with written explanations on questions regarding the three sites allegedly not addressed by Iran along with supporting documents by March 25". It was also stated in another part of the joint statement that “the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency will present his report before the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in June 2022, by implementing the procedures stipulated in items 1 to 3 of this statement. while assessing Iran's answer to the questions.” The important point is that in the agreed roadmap, the timing of the actions and the timeframe for preparing the Director-General's report and submitting it to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is set so that before Iran implements its commitments in the nuclear deal, the future of the previous safeguards is determined. In addition to the axes that were identified in the roadmap that was agreed upon during the Vienna talks, as well as the meetings that Iranian officials held with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran, it was emphasized that Iran not accept the implementation of its tasks in the nuclear agreement before the issue related to safeguards is resolved. The visit of the Director General of the Agency to Tehran, which took place in Raisi's government, which had different characteristics from previous visits due to the level of meetings and issues discussed, can be considered a positive step in the continuation of cooperation. Between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. At a press conference in Tehran and in an interview with the media after his return to Vienna, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the Agency, described the trip as positive and paved the way for the development of future cooperation. Although this visit in the middle of the Vienna talks has removed one of the few obstacles to a strong agreement, it can be said that how Iran's future interaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Western countries will depend on the correct implementation of the joint statement and on what happens in the future.
BY: Mohammad Ghaderi
NOUNEWS