WASHINGTON, D.C. – International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said “we should all welcome” the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in a panel at a conference in Washington Tuesday.
“I would say this is a moment, if I have to characterize it, this is a moment which is fraught with opportunity,” Grossi said in a panel, moderated by Corey Hinderstein, Vice President for Policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, at the 2025 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington. “But at the same time, it’s like we are walking a tightrope, right?”
Grossi continued to say that the process is ongoing, and should be welcomed because “we have, for the first time, the United States talking to Iran directly, indirectly.” He added that “we were coming from a relatively long period where the issue was not moving. But the fact that the issue was not moving did not mean that the centrifuges were not spinning.”
Grossi visited Iran last week, where he met with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. Aragchi was supposed to speak at the conference Monday, but his appearance was canceled that morning.
Grossi’s meeting came before officials from Iran and the U.S. met in Rome for a second round of talks. Grossi indicated there will be a third round, which then took place in Oman on April 23.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the podcast The Free Press earlier this week that the Trump administration is prepared to allow Iran a civilian nuclear program that runs on imported nuclear fuel as a compromise to avoid Tehran’s possible escalation to a nuclear weapon.
Grossi then added that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “not privy to the internal negotiation,” but it’s “quite obvious that sooner or later, that we will have to be involved.”
“Any agreement without verification is just a piece of paper, alright,” Grossi said. “We will have to provide for the necessary inspections that will hopefully take place.”
According to the IAEA, Iran now has an increasing stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium, multiple times the 3.67% limit granted by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal President Donald Trump pulled from in his first term, and not far from the 90% needed to build a nuclear weapon. Hinderstein quoted Grossi as saying, after his recent visit to Iran, that he felt like “we were running out of time.”
