Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Thursday that talks on Tehran’s nuclear program remain stalled, adding that the nuclear file has reached an “impasse.” At a press conference with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright in Washington, Grossi said the nuclear issue will not be a priority until key issues, including the situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and other broader matters, are clarified. He said that, under the current circumstances, there is no clear channel for advancing discussions on the nuclear issue. Grossi said contacts with both the US and Iran are continuing, noting that the IAEA remains engaged in dialogue with both sides. He added that Iran’s position is that no progress on the nuclear issue can be achieved until broader progress is made in the overall negotiations. However, the IAEA chief said both sides identified key nuclear issues and areas requiring joint cooperation. He spoke about contacts between US special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Iranian representatives, and expressed hope that the process could yield results in the near future. Grossi also said that Iran still possesses around 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. His remarks came while Tehran refuses to let IAEA inspectors visit facilities hit during the 12-day US-Israeli conflict in 2025. For his part, Wright said Wednesday that Washington would prefer a diplomatic solution with Iran but was prepared to destroy its nuclear facilities “if necessary.” “Iran has a nuclear weapons program and our goal is to stop it,” he said. “An agreement must be reached with Iran under which it renounces nuclear armament,” he added. The IAEA chief said he discussed with Wright nuclear non-proliferation issues, including Iran and his recent visit to Syria. Grossi arrived in the US ahead of the launch of the IAEA's initiative ATLAS, designed to aid the deployment of civil nuclear applications at sea. Meanwhile, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that any inspection of nuclear facilities damaged in military attacks must be carried out in accordance with Iranian law, with the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and only after specific security protocols have been established. Eslami said that requests to inspect the affected facilities under the current circumstances are “not acceptable.” He then accused the US and Israel of pressuring the IAEA to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities damaged by military strikes. “At a time when the IAEA has no such protocol and is not taking a position either, it is only the United States and Israel that are applying pressure for the Agency to go to the damaged sites and inspect them,” he said. “The reason for this pressure is that they want to see what happened to these sites as a result of the military operations they carried out,” Eslami added.
