In conjunction with the talks of the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran, Zarif confirms the possibility of retreating from his country's recent steps

The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, held talks in Tehran with the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, while Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif talked about the possibility of a return to the measures taken by his country outside the terms of the nuclear agreement in exchange for the commitment of other parties.

Neither the agency nor the Iranian authorities have specified whether Grossi's agenda includes other meetings before concluding his visit later on Sunday.

Salehi had previously said that he would discuss with Grossi cooperation between Iran and the IAEA after Tehran stopped working on the additional protocol on Tuesday.

He added that the dialogue will discuss how to organize inspections, in accordance with the decisions of the NPT, and criticized the agency's leakage of information related to Iranian nuclear activities, stressing that no information should be disclosed until the inspection process ends, noting that Iran has directed a written and verbal objection to the agency about this. Matter.

Grossi previously said that the aim of his visit is to reach "a mutually acceptable solution consistent with Iranian law, in order for the IAEA to continue its basic verification activities in Iran."

Concurrently, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that it is possible to start talks with Washington when all parties fulfill their obligations in the nuclear agreement, indicating that Iran will quickly back down from reducing its commitments if the rest of the parties abide by the agreement.

Zarif added that any upcoming talks on the nuclear deal would not lead to any changes in the form and content of the agreement.

The Iranian foreign minister said that ending the abrupt inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency does not violate the nuclear agreement, stressing that his country is not seeking to possess nuclear weapons and has nothing to hide, as he put it.

European proposal

Tehran had announced that it was studying a proposal submitted by the European Union to participate in an informal meeting attended by the United States with the rest of the members of the nuclear agreement, while an Iranian official confirmed that there is no meaning for any return to the agreement without verifying the seriousness of Washington.

Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that his country is studying the European proposal to hold a meeting of the "4 + 1" group, with the participation of Washington and Tehran.

It is noteworthy that the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 aims mainly to lift many of the sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for reducing its nuclear activities and ensuring that it does not seek to develop a nuclear weapon.

However, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, which in turn responded by disavowing some of the obligations that the agreement entails.

Serious Washington

For his part, Iran's representative to the United Nations, Majid Takht Rawanji, said that there is no sense in any return to the nuclear agreement without verifying the seriousness of Washington's lifting of sanctions, stressing the need to provide guarantees for the return of oil revenues to Iran through the global banking system in the event of lifting the oil sanctions.

On the other hand, Washington said it has no plans to lift the sanctions before a dialogue with Europe.

Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a way to overcome the impasse between his country and the United States over who would first start returning to the nuclear deal, saying that the European Union could "coordinate" the steps.

For his part, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said that the recent steps taken by Washington are small, which are insufficient signals about the goodwill of the new US administration.

Rabiei added - in an article in "Iran" newspaper - that the problems facing diplomatic moves regarding the implementation of the nuclear agreement constitute a natural prelude to the return of all parties to their obligations, including the lifting of all sanctions in the near future.

He made clear that diplomatic initiatives might succeed in reaching positive results, and stressed that even if Washington returned to the agreement and lifted all sanctions, this would not compensate for the losses suffered by the Iranian people.

The first step

In the context, former Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Hans Blix, said that it is clear that all parties to the nuclear agreement want to return to work with it, but the obstacle is that Iran wants the United States to take the first step, while Washington wants Tehran to return to abide by the terms of the agreement. Before the sanctions were lifted.

Blix added - in an interview with Al Jazeera - that removing this obstacle will enable progress to be made through simultaneous steps to be reached through diplomatic efforts, and said that Qatar can play a role in it.

He considered that what the United States is talking about regarding the need to stop Iran's interference in the affairs of the region is an important matter, but it is not related to the nuclear agreement, stressing that what must be focused on now is commitment to the agreement in order to preserve the stability of the Middle East.