IAEA chief says Iran agreement on resumption of inspections ‘important step in right direction’

By AFP 9 September 2025, 10:14 pm

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Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (C) meets with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi (L) and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi in Cairo on September 9, 2025. This is the first meeting between Tehran and the IAEA since Iran suspended cooperation following a 12-day war in June during which Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities, after which Tehran has said future cooperation with the agency will take "a new form." (Photo by Ahmed HASAN / AFP)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi hails a new framework agreement with Iran, calling it an “important step in the right direction.”

In a post on X, he says he agreed with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a Cairo meeting “on practical modalities to resume inspection activities in Iran.”

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, meanwhile, welcomes a cooperation framework between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, saying it can open a “new path” to talks over Iran’s nuclear program.

At a joint press conference in Cairo with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA chief Grossi, Abdelatty says he hopes the deal could first “enable an understanding” with European powers who have threatened to reimpose sanctions, and then “lead to a return to the negotiation table between Iran and the United States.”