IAEA team to visit Iran within 2-3 weeks
A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Iran within two to three weeks, an Iranian official said Wednesday, adding that the group will not have access to the country's nuclear sites.
"We have agreed actually to accept a delegation of the IAEA, a technical delegation, to pay a visit to Iran very soon, in two to three weeks," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters in remarks that followed Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month.
Gharibabadi said the visit would focus on establishing new relations with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, noting: "The delegation will come to Iran to discuss the modality, not to go to the sites."
He was speaking at the United Nations ahead of negotiations Friday in Istanbul with France, Britain and Germany, which are threatening to slap sanctions on Iran over its alleged failure to adhere to its nuclear commitments.
If the European countries impose sanctions, "we will respond, we will react," Gharibabadi said.
In early July, a team of IAEA inspectors left Iran to return to the organization's headquarters in Vienna after Tehran suspended cooperation with the agency.
Iran has blamed the IAEA in part for the June attacks on its nuclear facilities, which Israel says it launched to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon -- an ambition Tehran has repeatedly denied.
The United States carried out its own strikes on June 22, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the strikes a success that "completely destroyed" the sites, but several media outlets have reported leaked intelligence suggesting a hazier picture.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said this week that Tehran has no plans to abandon its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment, despite the "severe" damage to its facilities.
Talking on Wednesday about the resumption of US-Iran nuclear talks, which were canceled in mid-June, Gharibabadi said: "The sooner, the better," though he emphasized that the United States must rule out any further military action.
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