JNS
Ahead of his trip, Rafael Grossi warned that "the margins to maneuver are beginning to shrink."
International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi was set to arrive in Tehran on Wednesday for talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Grossi told AFP at the COP29 climate summit in Baku on Tuesday that "the Iranian administration must understand that the international situation is becoming increasingly tense and that the margins to maneuver are beginning to shrink, and that it is imperative to find ways to reach diplomatic solutions."
According to the IAEA's statement on Grossi's visit, he will hold "high-level meetings" with Iranian officials on the technical aspects of the regime's nuclear program.
The visit will be Grossi's first to Iran since May.
In his remarks to AFP on Tuesday, Grossi said he expects to work together with President elect Donald Trump on the issue.
“I already worked with the first Trump administration and we worked well together,” the IAEA chief said.
During his first term, in 2018 Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran and stepped up sanctions on the regime in Tehran.
The Republican plans to renew his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20, including issuing punishing sanctions and targeting Tehran’s oil income.
Sources briefed on Trump’s early plans told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the harsh measures against the regime are part of an aggressive strategy to weaken the Islamic Republic’s support for its regional terrorist proxies and significantly harm its nuclear ambitions.
Former Trump officials said that his approach to Iran will likely be influenced by its attempt to assassinate him. The U.S. Department of Justice charged three men on Friday who it said were involved in the Iranian plot.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects,” the Israeli premier said on Sunday following phone calls with the American.
“In recent days, I have spoken three times with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump,” the Israeli prime minister revealed in a written statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday afternoon.
The “very good and important talks” were meant to “further enhance the steadfast bond” with Washington, said Netanyahu.
“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects and on the dangers they reflect,” he said. “We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”
Tehran has the capacity to produce nuclear weapons should it choose to do so, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Nov 1.
“We now have the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons,” Kamal Kharrazi told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen outlet.
“Only the supreme leader’s fatwa currently prohibits it,” he said, referring to a religious ruling made by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the mid-’90s.
“If the survival of Iran comes under serious threat, we reserve the right to reconsider,” added Kharrazi.
In May, Kharrazi told the ISNA news agency that, “If the Zionist regime dares to damage Iran’s nuclear facilities, our level of deterrence will be different. We have no decision to produce a nuclear bomb, but if the existence of Iran is threatened, we will have to change our nuclear doctrine.”
The Iranian nuclear program is the greatest threat facing the Jewish state, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the press on Monday.
“The most crucial issue for the future of our region and the security of Israel is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said.
“The most important issue by far for the future of this region and the security of the State of Israel is to avoid Iran getting a nuclear weapon,” Sa’ar stated, noting he was confident that Israel and the United States would work together to stabilize the region.
A nuclear Iran poses a threat to the entire region, he said.
“Iran attacks other neighbors, [it] attacked the Saudis, for example. Iran is directly connected, financing and instructing and responsible for so many terror organizations, some of them became terror states in the region,” he noted.
The IAEA reports that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has now reached 60% purity, nearing the 90% threshold needed for a nuclear weapon.
