UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran-US talks are verging on ‘crucial’ period

DUBAI: Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme are “in a very crucial” stage, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.

The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the US will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend’s first meeting in Oman.

Grossi’s visit also coincided with Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, visiting Tehran as the highest-ranking official from the kingdom to visit Iran since the two countries reached a Chinese-mediated détente in 2023.

The stakes of the negotiations Saturday and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldn’t be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. US President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear programme if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Grossi arrived in Iran on Wednesday night and met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who now is in Moscow for separate talks likely over the negotiations. On Thursday, Grossi met with Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, then later toured a hall featuring some of Iran’s civilian nuclear projects.

“We know that we are in a very crucial, I would say, stage of this important negotiation, so I want to concentrate on the positive,” Grossi told Iranian media. “There is a possibility of a good outcome.”