Grossi in Tehran for High-Level Meetings

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi arrived in Tehran on Friday at the head of a high-level delegation for talks with top Iranian authorities. 
He was received by Behrouz Kamalvandi, the deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, at Mehrabad International Airport, and later in the evening, held his first round of talks with AEOI head Mohammad Eslami.   
Grossi’s two-day trip comes following an invitation by Eslami to discuss ambiguities over Iran’s nuclear activity ahead of the IAEA Board of Governors’ meeting on March 6. 
Apart from a meeting with Eslami, the IAEA chief is also set to meet other top Iranian officials, according to ISNA. 
“The DG will hold a press conference upon his return to Vienna on Saturday, late afternoon,” the IAEA said on Twitter.
The agency criticized Iran last month for failing to inform it of a substantial change to the interconnections between the two cascades, or clusters, of centrifuges enriching uranium to up to 60% at the Fordow enrichment plant. 
The UN watchdog said this week that it had detected particles of enriched uranium of around 84% in Iran, very close to weapons grade which is around 90%.
An IAEA delegation led by the head of the agency’s safeguards department Massimo Aparo traveled to Tehran to hold discussions with Iranian officials, who later invited the agency’s director general to visit and pursue the talks.  
Tehran says unintended fluctuations in enrichment levels are normal during the process, stressing that the end product is what should be assessed. 
Officials close to the agency have said they cannot say with certainty whether Iran’s production was accidental or intentional.
This week’s IAEA report said that Iran was not stockpiling near-weapons-grade material and that it was still producing 60% enriched uranium at Fordow. 
Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity since April 2021, above the 3.67% cap imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in return for sanctions relief.  
The move was part of Iran’s countermeasures against the United States’ reimposition of sanctions, after its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018.

Appropriate Response 

When the presence of highly enriched uranium in the Iranian plant was first reported in the media, European officials warned that the enrichment of uranium at that level would be “an unprecedented and extremely grave development.”
Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, appeared to be willing to formally censure Iran again at an IAEA board’s meeting next week by passing a resolution, while the United States says it would wait for the results of Grossi’s visit to Iran before determining next steps.
“Let’s wait for that and then we’ll see what actions are appropriate,” US envoy on Iran Rob Malley said on Thursday. 
He added that Washington is in very close contact with the E3 and others around the globe who are concerned about Iran’s nuclear program and will decide at that point. 
Tehran has already warned against any unwise decision by the IAEA Board of Governors at its upcoming meeting. 
“Iran reserves its right to give an appropriate response,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in his address at a disarmament conference in Geneva this week. 
Tehran has reacted to previous formal rebukes by stepping up its nuclear work or restricting the oversight of IAEA inspectors. 

Eyeing Breakthrough 

According to some diplomats, Grossi is also seeking a breakthrough on the safeguards issues with Iran. 
The IAEA claims it has found traces of uranium at three old undeclared sites in Iran, which Tehran denies, saying the questions are based on fabricated data. 
Iran provided explanations to the agency, which the director general dismissed as uncredible, paving the way for the passing of two resolutions by the Board of Governors against the Islamic Republic. 
The probe into the alleged materials has been a stumbling block in negotiations on the revival of the nuclear deal, which have been stalled for months.
Iran demands the closure of the investigations while the IAEA accuses Tehran of failing to cooperate on the matter. 
Iran’s top nuclear official had earlier noted that the safeguards allegations would be discussed during Grossi’s visit. 
Eslami also dismissed claims that Iran has not provided answers to the IAEA about the alleged particles. 
“The answers were sent in 100 pages,” he said.