Iran open to IAEA talks, but ‘will not be intimidated’

Dubai — Iran is willing to end an impasse over a range of issues with the UN nuclear agency on its atomic programme but it will not succumb to pressure, its foreign minister said after meeting the watchdog’s chief in Tehran on Thursday.

Diplomats said on Wednesday that European powers (E3) are pushing for a new resolution against Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board next week to pressure Tehran over what they view as its poor co-operation.

The talks took place with Donald Trump due to take office again as US president in January. During his previous tenure, the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers aimed at curbing Tehran’s sensitive nuclear work. It is unclear whether Trump will continue his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran when he takes office.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, writing on X after his talks with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, said: “The ball is in the EU-E3 court. Willing to negotiate based on our national interest and inalienable rights, but not ready to negotiate under pressure and intimidation.”

Iranian state media also quoted him as saying: “I hope the other side will adopt a rational policy”.

Relations between Tehran and the IAEA have soured over several long-standing issues including Iran barring the agency’s uranium-enrichment experts from the country and its failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.

In August, the agency said Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium continues and it has not improved co-operation with it despite a resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors in June.

Grossi, who has long sought progress with Tehran over its fast-advancing nuclear work, said: “Inspections are just one chapter of our co-operation and cannot be discussed.”

The US withdrawal from the nuclear pact in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions prompted Tehran to violate limitations on its uranium enrichment — seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear weapons capability.

Tehran is now enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, close to the roughly 90% required for an atomic bomb. Tehran says its nuclear work is purely for peaceful purposes.

Iran nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said his meeting with Grossi was “constructive” but he warned that Tehran would react immediately to any resolution against it at an IAEA meeting next week, without elaborating.

A senior Iranian official said on Wednesday that Tehran's reaction to a resolution could be to limit diplomatic and technical co-operation with the IAEA.

Grossi, in a televised joint press conference with Eslami, urged Tehran to take steps to resolve the remaining issues.

“It is in our power here to take concrete steps that will indicate clearly to the US and the international community that we can clarify things and move forward with concrete solutions,” he said.

Grossi is expected to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time since he took office in August.

On Tuesday, Pezeshkian, seen as relatively moderate, said Tehran will not be able to ignore its arch-foe the US and needs to “handle its enemies with forbearance”.

Reuters