Iran Agrees To Be Visited By The Technical Team Of The IAEA Nuclear Supervisory Agency

Tehran, Iran/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/hosein charbaghi

JAKARTA - Iran has agreed to allow a technical team from the UN nuclear watchdog to visit in the coming weeks to discuss "new modality" related to relations between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Tehran.

"The delegation will come to Iran to discuss the modality, not to visit the (nuclear) location," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters during a visit to New York.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said Iran intends to revive cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog despite restrictions imposed by its parliament.

But Araghchi stressed access to its bombed nuclear site poses safety and security concerns.

The new law stipulates any future inspection of Iran's nuclear site by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires approval from the Highest National Security Council, Iran's highest security agency.

"The risk of spreading radioactive material and the risk of exploding remaining ammunition is very serious," Araghchi was quoted as saying by state media as reported by Reuters, Saturday, July 12.

"For us, the IAEA supervisors who approach the nuclear location have safety and security aspects. The supervisors themselves are things that must be examined," he continued.

Although Iran's cooperation with the nuclear regulatory agency is not over yet, the cooperation will take on a new form and will be guided and managed through the Highest National Security Council.

France, Britain and Germany are urging Iran to immediately continue diplomacy regarding its nuclear program. All three countries threaten Iran with UN sanctions if there are no concrete steps until the end of the summer.

Foreign ministers from a group called E3, along with the EU's foreign policy chief, made their first phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi since Israel and the United States launched airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program in mid-June.

Reported by Reuters, Friday, July 18, speaking after the phone call, a French diplomatic source said ministers had asked Iran to immediately resume diplomatic efforts to reach a verifiable and sustainable nuclear deal.

The three countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties in the 2015 deal with Iran that lifted sanctions against the country in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The UN Security Council's resolution that perpetuates the deal will end on October 18 and on its terms, UN sanctions could be reinstated beforehand. The process will take about 30 days.

European countries have repeatedly warned that unless there is a new nuclear deal, they will launch a "shuffle mechanism", which will restore all previous UN sanctions against Iran if it violates treaty terms.

"The ministers have also reaffirmed their determination to use the so-called 'snapback' mechanism if there is no concrete progress towards such an agreement by the end of the summer," the diplomatic source said.

The source did not specify what concrete progress would be made.

Since the airstrikes, inspectors from the UN atomic watchdog have left Iran.

Although Iran has expressed its openness to diplomacy, there is no indication that the sixth round of nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran will resume soon.

Diplomats say if they continue negotiations, reaching a comprehensive agreement before the end of August "the deadline given by Europe" seems unrealistic, especially without inspectors on the ground assessing Iran's remaining nuclear program.

Two European diplomats said they hoped to coordinate strategies with the United States in the coming days with the aim of immediately holding negotiations with Iran.