Are Washington’s fears legitimate? On Wednesday, on the sidelines of interviews in Tehran, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA), Rafael Grossi, said that Iran was “not far” to have the atomic bomb.
The Western countries, the United States in mind, and Israel have long suspected Iran to want to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran rejects these allegations and defends a right to nuclear for civilian purposes, especially for energy.
“It’s like a puzzle, they (the Iranians) have the pieces and they could one day put them together. There is still a long way to go before achieving it. But they are not far away, it must be recognized, “said Rafael Grossi in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde published on Wednesday.
The head of the IAEA arrived during the day in Tehran, before new talks between Iran and the United States on the Iranian nuclear program, scheduled for Saturday in Rome.
The IAEA, the UN nuclear gendarme based in Vienna, is responsible for verifying the peaceful nature of the Iran nuclear program. “It is not enough to tell the international community We don’t have nuclear weapons So that we believe you. We must be able to check, ”adds Rafael Grossi in this interview.
“Important” discussions
In Tehran, he met the Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi. An interview which he described as “important”. “Cooperation with IAEA is essential to provide credible guarantees on the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program at a time when diplomacy has become urgently necessary,” he said on X.
Important to meet with Foreign Minister @ARGHII during my timely visit to Iran. Cooperation with @Aahen is indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed. pic.twitter.com/wlmsghttIK
– Rafael Mariano Grossi (@rafaelmgrossi) April 16, 2025
Abbas Araghchi for his part welcomed on the same social network this Thursday a “useful discussion” with Rafael Grossi. “In the coming months, the agency can play a crucial role in the peaceful regulations of the Iranian nuclear file,” he said.
“We are willing to trust Mr. Grossi in his mission to keep the agency away from politics and politicization, and to focus on his technical mandate,” added the Iranian minister, judging that “troublemakers gather to derail the in progress negotiations”.
Had useful discussion with visiting IAEA chief Grossi. In the coming months, the Agency can play a crucial role in peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear file.
As variety of spoilers are gathered to derail current negotiations, we need a Director General of Peace.
This Thursday, the head of the IAEA must have discussions with the head of the Iran’s atomic energy organization, Mohammad Eslami.
Iran is the only state not endowed with nuclear weapons to enrich uranium at a high level (60 %), close to the 90 % necessary for the manufacture of the atomic weapon, while continuing to accumulate significant stocks of fissile material, according to the IAEA. The 2015 agreement capped this rate at 3.67 %.
