UN nuclear watchdog chief arrives in Tehran as UK says deal ‘close’

The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief has arrived in Tehran amid hopes of reviving the 2015 accord between Iran and world powers, with Britain saying a deal is “close.”

The visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi, who is set to meet Iranian officials today, is seen as critical to clinching an agreement over a return to the nuclear deal, and comes in parallel to negotiations in the Austrian capital to salvage the accord.

Grossi “was received on arrival in Tehran by Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation” of Iran, the Iranian body says in a statement on its website. He is to meet with its chief later.

“This is a critical time but a positive outcome for everyone is possible,” Grossi wrote on Twitter Friday.

The next few days are widely seen as a crunch point for the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program — the latest round of which started in late November in Vienna.

Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to the press at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 4, 2022. (Joe Klamar/AFP)