IAEA director hopes Iran will start cooperating soon in nuclear probe

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi says he hopes Iran will start cooperating “as soon as possible” on an IAEA probe into man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country.

“We are ready; we want this to happen,” he says, speaking at the UN nuclear watchdog’s Vienna headquarters.  “We are not in the business of aggravating or creating situations. We just want this issue to be clarified, so I really hope that they will start looking into this issue in a different way.”

Asked whether he expects to face political pressure from various sides on the issue, Grossi replies that “political pressure is always there; the thing is what I do with that pressure.” He adds that Iran appears to be “pushing their national interest in the way they see it.”