Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the deputy head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog was set to arrive in Tehran the following day.
The Monday visit will be the first by a senior official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since Iran suspended cooperation with the body last month in the wake of the 12-day war with Israel.
“Our talks with the agency tomorrow will focus on a new cooperation framework… Until we reach an agreement on a new framework, cooperation will not begin,” Araghchi told reporters.
He said there were “no inspections or visits” of nuclear sites planned for the IAEA official.
The official’s identity was unclear, as the IAEA has six deputy directors general. Semi-official Iranian news agency Fars had earlier reported that IAEA deputy chief Massimo Aparo, head of the agency’s Department of Safeguards, was slated to visit Iran.
The IAEA has said that Iran could resume its uranium enrichment activities within months, and that the nuclear watchdog was yet to ascertain the location of Iran’s stockpile of nearly weapons-grade uranium.
Last month, Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the IAEA, citing the agency’s choice not to condemn Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the war in June.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, center, visits an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2025. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)
The war, launched by Israel on June 13 and deemed preemptive ahead of Tehran making a push for an atomic bomb, derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States that began in April.
The talks had been the highest-level contact between Tehran and Washington since the US in 2018 abandoned the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.
Since the 12-day war in June, Iran has demanded guarantees against military action before resuming any negotiations with the US.
Araghchi recently said Iran has “received messages” from the US side on the resumption of talks, and on Sunday, he said that “nothing has been finalized” on that matter.
On July 25, Iranian diplomats met with counterparts from Germany, Britain and France, which are parties to the 2015 deal and have threatened to trigger sanctions against Tehran by the end of August if it fails to reach a deal on its nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meets with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives in Tehran, Iran, on July 12, 2025. (Hamid FOROUTAN / Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)
The so-called “snapback mechanism” would reinstate UN sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The option expires in October, and Tehran has warned of consequences should it be activated.
“Our contact with the Europeans is ongoing,” said Araghchi on Sunday, adding that a date for the next round of talks has yet to be set.
Iran publicly denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, the Islamic Republic has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, all while regularly threatening to annihilate Israel.
Israel said it launched a bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile capabilities and military leadership after identifying steps Tehran had taken toward imminent nuclear weaponization.
Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building in Tehran on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
According to Israel, the war on Iran was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed goal of destroying the Jewish state.
US forces joined the Israeli operation with an attack on Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
Iran retaliated to Israel’s attacks with deadly ballistic missile strikes that caused dozens of civilian deaths and heavy damage in Israeli cities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
