IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to revisit Ukraine and Russia imminently
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he will travel to Kyiv in the next few days amid reports that Russian troops are building power lines to link the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to its grid.
"I can say that, in the next few days, I will go to Kyiv again and perhaps also to Russia," Rafael Grossi told Euronews speaking to a group of international reporters at the week long seminar in Vienna.
The New York Times has recently reported that Russian forces are building power lines on temporarily occupied territories in south-eastern Ukraine. Evidence gathered by Greenpeace and satellite images show new electricity lines and pylons between the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk on the Azov sea coast, which appeared since February 2025.
According to Greenpeace it proves that Moscow is willing to restart and exploit the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which has been shut down. The IAEA is concerned about this possibility.
"The front continues to be extremely active, so military operations are ongoing in the relative vicinity of the of the plant," Grossi told Euronews.
'We are concerned about this, we are following that. As you know, we have a permanent presence at the plant. And we are going to be continuing our discussions with both, in particular with the Russians, on this," he said, adding that the idea of restarting of the plant "is a matter that requires very careful consideration and perhaps very thorough safety evaluation. So this is one of the points I am going to be discussing with them over the next few days.'
The Argentinian diplomat - who visited Tehran in April - is also carefully following the talks between the US administration and Iran. Grossi said he was in daily contact with Foreign Minister Al Aghji and that one of his deputies is today in Tehran.
"Depending on the day, there are days where things look a bit better," said Grossi, but he added that some days President Trump is saying one thing, then the Iranians reply with another.
Any US-Iran deal should include the scope for 'robust' IAEA inspections, Grossi said, reiterating recent comments that agreement without the IAEA would just be a "piece of paper".
Grossi called the talks a good sign but insisted that 'the jury is still out' on negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran's advancing nuclear programme.
The Trump administration is currently holding talks to try to stop Iran from following through with nuclear activities. Back in 2016, the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Grossi was asked whether his future plans include interest in replacing Antonio Guterres as UN chief when his term comes to an end in December 2026.
"What I have said to colleagues in other parts of the world is that I'm seriously considering, that, yes. But for the moment, I'm here, and I have as you can see from this discussion, I have a lot on my plate," he said.
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Grossi said Saturday that he 'reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively' with the IAEA's years long investigation into uranium traces discovered at several sites in Iran. The IAEA also circulated to member states on Saturday a second, 22-page confidential report, also seen by the AP, that Grossi was asked to produce following a resolution passed by the IAEA board of governors last November. In this so-called 'comprehensive report,' the IAEA said that Iran's cooperation with the agency has "been less than satisfactory' when it comes to uranium traces discovered by IAEA inspectors at several locations in Iran that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites. Western officials suspect that the uranium traces discovered by the IAEA could provide evidence that Iran had a secret military nuclear program until 2003. One of the sites became known publicly in 2018 after Netanyahu revealed it at the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden at a rug-cleaning plant. Iran denied this but in 2019 IAEA inspectors detected the presence of manmade uranium particles there. After initially blocking IAEA access, inspectors were able to collect samples in 2020 from two other locations where they also detected the presence of manmade uranium particles. The three locations became known as Turquzabad, Varamin, and Marivan. A fourth undeclared location named as Lavisan-Shian is also part of the IAEA probe but IAEA inspectors never visited the site because it was razed and demolished by Iran after 2003. In Saturday's comprehensive report, the IAEA says that the 'lack of answers and clarifications provided by Iran" to questions the watchdog had regarding Lavisan-Shian, Varamin and Marivan "has led the agency to conclude that these three locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear program carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material.' On Thursday, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country's nuclear program to continue. The comments came a day after President Trump said he told Israeli Prime MInister Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the US administration more time to push for a new deal with Tehran. Trump said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the 'not too distant future.' 'They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,' Trump said of Iran. He added, 'That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East.'
