IAEA chief to visit Tehran as nuclear talks near finish line
Despite what was reported as complicated, last-minute conditions set by the Iranian side, informal statements by Russian and European negotiators indicated that the talks in Vienna were reaching a conclusion.
The International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) announced that its director-general, Rafael Grossi, was scheduled to sit down with Iranian officials in Tehran on Saturday.
The visit follows the Islamic Republic's demands for a closure of cases dealing with its Possible Military Dimensions, as part of its new conditions in Vienna negotiations over restoring the 2015 nuclear deal.
The IAEA chief is set to meet with Iran's atomic chief and the country's foreign minister to discuss resolving "safeguards issues." One lingering, contentious question between the Islamic Republic and the nuclear watchdog revolves around nuclear material, which the agency says Iran has failed to report. A settlement of those differences is seen as a key step toward bridging the final gaps between Tehran and the Western parties in Vienna.
The path of the negotiations over the past month has been bumpy and open to contradicting sets of speculation ranging from utter collapse to absolute success.
