(United Nations) Iran appears willing to resume nuclear negotiations, but is currently refusing the return to its sites of inspectors whose accreditation has been withdrawn, the head of the International Nuclear Agency said on Thursday. Atomic Energy (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in an interview with AFP.
The Iranians “are showing signs of willingness to re-engage, not only with the IAEA, but also […] with our former partners in the 2015 nuclear agreement,” he said, while indicating that Tehran did not want to “put inspectors back on the list” whose accreditation was withdrawn.
Iran has sharply reduced site inspections since 2021. Surveillance cameras were disconnected and the accreditation of a group of experts was withdrawn.
While Rafael Grossi is due to go to Tehran in October, Iran has definitely made it known to him that there will be no changes regarding the inspectors, he explained to AFP.
Since the arrival last summer of reformist Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, Tehran has expressed its wish to relaunch negotiations to revive the agreement concluded in 2015 with the European countries of the E3 (Paris, London, Berlin), the States -United States, Russia and China.
This pact, known by the acronym JCPOA, was supposed to regulate Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.
But it was shattered after the American withdrawal decided in 2018 by the then president, Donald Trump. Negotiations in Vienna failed in the summer of 2022.
For the moment, Europeans are cautious about the possibility of a return to the discussion table in the run-up to the American presidential election in early November.
“If things evolve in a positive way, it could be, and I think this is the president’s intention [Pezeshkian] and the Minister of Foreign Affairs [Abbas Araghchi]that there be a resumption of discussions with the former negotiating partners to see what type of framework,” Rafael Grossi told AFP.
The question being whether this will be that of the JCPOA or not.
“Will it be the same? Will this be something completely different? […] ? It’s theirs [négociateurs] to decide if it is feasible, realistic and useful,” he stressed.
The Europeans are skeptical about the possibility of resuming the framework of the initial pact, according to a diplomatic source.