NEWS DESK
TEHRAN: The United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Wednesday that a technical team would visit Tehran on Sunday to end a years-long deadlock over an inquiry into undeclared particles of uranium found in Iran.
The Vienna-based agency has for years been demanding Iran to explain the undeclared man-made uranium’s presence at 3 sites. It has been requested that access to sites and materials as well as sample collection.
IAEA technical team will visit Tehran on Sunday after the invitation from Iran, a spokeswoman of the agency said, adding that the visit is aimed at discussing the outstanding safeguards issues reported in the past.
United Nations Watchdog’s Chief not expected to go Iran
The watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi was not expected to go to Tehran this time.
Earlier, officials in Tehran had said that the IAEA team would visit the country to end ambiguities over claims of secret activities.
The issue has frustrated efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord, which has been on a “ventilator” since the US unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018.
The chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said that interactions with the watchdog were ongoing. He voiced hope that these interactions would end the ambiguities united nations.
The team had initially planned to visit Tehran in November but postponed when the IEAE’s board of governors criticized Tehran’s lack of cooperation in giving technically credible answers.
The agency says that it cannot guarantee the integrity and authenticity of Iran’s nuclear program without progress.
