In a statement on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Rafael Grossi, the head of the Vienna-based organization, will travel to Tehran on Saturday in order to meet with Iranian officials.
An IAEA spokesperson said in a statement: “Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi will travel to Tehran for meetings with senior Iranian officials on Saturday,” adding that Grossi would hold a press conference on his return to Vienna on Saturday evening.
The statement regarding Grossi’s trip comes as negotiators indicate that they are in the final stages of trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, which imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
Former US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018 and reimposed tough economic sanctions, leading Iran to breach many of the deal’s restrictions designed to make it harder for Tehran to obtain the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.
Iran officially denies aiming to do so.
