IAEA chief visits Iran’s nuclear facilities

TEHRAN | Xinhua |  Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency () Rafael Grossi on Friday visited two Iranian nuclear sites of Natanz and Fordow for the first time.

During his visit, Grossi was accompanied by Massimo Aparo, IAEA deputy director general and head of the IAEA Department of Safeguards, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), and Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

On Thursday, Grossi told reporters after his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi that his scheduled visit to the two facilities is an important part of his trip to Iran, noting that “it will help me gain a complete image of the development of Iran’s nuclear program.”

On Thursday, Grossi also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Eslami, president of the AEOI, on the country’s nuclear activities.

Grossi’s visit to Iran came as a number of outstanding issues remain unresolved between Tehran and the IAEA, including the agency’s claims to have found “traces of uranium” at a number of “undeclared” Iranian sites, which the country has repeatedly rejected. ■