Iran to Send Delegation to Vienna for Talks With IAEA

Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog will discuss the IAEA investigation into uranium traces

Iran will send a delegation to Vienna to hold talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the UN nuclear watchdog’s investigation into traces of uranium at undeclared Iranian nuclear sites.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran will send the delegation “in the coming days in order to begin talks and strengthen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

The IAEA opened its probe into the uranium traces years ago, and while there’s no proliferation risk, the nuclear watchdog won’t drop the case and hasn’t been satisfied with Iran’s explanations.

Iranian officials insist that they have explained the situation well enough, and some have suggested the evidence was planted by Israel. Amir-Abdollahian said he hopes the talks in Vienna will be able to settle the “accusations” brought against Iran.

The issue was brought up during negotiations between the US and Iran to revive the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, but those talks have been stalled since early September. Iranian officials had said that the JCPOA couldn’t be revived without the investigation being settled, but it wasn’t clear if that was a demand they made to the US.

President Biden’s special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said this week that the US won’t “waste time” on JCPOA negotiations with Iran and threatened Washington would use military action against Iran as a “last resort.”

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.