IAEA may return to Iran soon for talks on nuclear transparency

Iran's leadership has agreed to allow a technical team from the UN nuclear watchdog to visit the country in the coming weeks. The meeting is aimed at discussing relations between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Tehran.

It was reported by Reuters.

How will the meeting begin?

According to Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, the delegation will come to Iran to discuss modalities, not to visit nuclear facilities. The IAEA did not confirm this information, but said that the head of the Agency, Rafael Grossi, was "actively engaging with all parties involved in the Iran nuclear issue".

According to the statement from the IAEA Press Service, it is crucial for the Agency to be able to resume inspections in Iran after Israeli and U.S. airstrikes aimed at destroying the country's nuclear program in order to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

Kazem Gharibabadi stated he would travel to Istanbul on Friday to meet with Britain, France, and Germany. They, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, which the U.S. withdrew from in 2018. Under the deal, sanctions against Iran were eased in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Separately, Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of nuclear talks this year, brokered by Oman. Gharibabadi stated that they are focused on talks on transparency measures by Iran regarding its nuclear program and the lifting of U.S. sanctions.

As a reminder, Ukraine and Israel will launch a separate security dialogue dedicated to countering Iran's threat. This agreement was reached by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, and his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa'ar.

And the chief of the DIU, Kyrylo Budanov, answered whether the conflict between Iran and Israel affects Ukraine.