IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi to Visit Iran Amid Tensions Over Nuclear Program

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit Iran on Wednesday, with consultations with Iranian officials set to begin the following day.

Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had indicated earlier in the week that he might soon visit Iran to address its contentious nuclear program and expressed hope for cooperative engagement with US President-elect Donald Trump, The Caspian Post reports, citing Iranian media. 

Iran began high degree of uranium enrichment in 2021, three years after Trump left the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal and imposed economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. With more than 110 kilos of enriched uranium, Iran is now considered a nuclear threshold state.

Key issues between Iran, the IAEA, and Western powers include Tehran’s exclusion of uranium-enrichment experts from IAEA inspection teams and its longstanding failure to clarify the presence of uranium traces at undeclared locations.

The 2015 nuclear deal aimed to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities, which Western nations viewed as a potential path toward nuclear weapons. With the high degree of uranium enrichment, the IAEA believes that Tehran would need just 2-3 weeks to amass enough uranium enriched to 90% purity for a nuclear bomb.

Iran is now enriching uranium up to 60% purity—close to the 90% level required for a nuclear weapon. The IAEA estimates that, if further enriched, Iran has accumulated enough uranium to produce about four nuclear bombs.

Iran maintains that it has no intentions of developing nuclear weapons and insists its uranium enrichment is solely for civilian energy purposes. However, uranium enriched to 60% purity has no known civilian use.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly stated in recent months that he will not permit Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. His new administration is likely to impose additional sanctions and ramp up enforcement of existing ones. After six years of US sanctions that have severely impacted Iran's economy, Grossi’s visit could present an opportunity for Iranian concessions, including easing restrictions on the IAEA’s monitoring activities.