Any US-Iran deal should include 'robust' IAEA inspections, Grossi says

Any deal between Iran and the U.S. that would impose fresh nuclear curbs on Iran should include "very robust" inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.

The two countries are holding talks meant to rein in Iranian nuclear activities that have rapidly accelerated since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 deal between Iran and major powers that strictly limited those activities.

As that deal has unravelled, Iran has increased the purity to which it is enriching uranium to up to 60%, close to the roughly 90% of nuclear arms-grade, from 3.67% under the deal. It has also scrapped extra IAEA oversight imposed by the 2015 pact.

"My impression is that if you have that type of agreement, a solid, very robust inspection by the IAEA ... should be a prerequisite, and I'm sure it will be, because it would imply a very, very serious commitment on the part of Iran, which must be verified," Grossi told reporters.

He stopped short, however, of saying Iran should resume implementation of the Additional Protocol, an agreement between the IAEA and member states that broadens the range of IAEA oversight to include snap inspections of undeclared sites. Iran implemented it under the 2015 deal, until the U.S. exit in 2018.

Asked if he meant the protocol should be applied, Grossi said "I'm very practical," adding that this was not a subject in the talks. While the IAEA is not part of the talks, he said he was in touch with both sides, including U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.

"I don't think they are discussing it in these terms. I don't see the discussion as being a discussion on legal norms to be applied or not. I tend to see this as more of an ad hoc approach," said Grossi.

While the talks have appeared to be at an impasse, with the U.S. repeatedly saying Iran should not be allowed to refine uranium at all and Tehran saying that is a red line since enrichment is its inalienable right, Grossi said that gap was not impossible to bridge.

"I think there's always a way," he said. "It's not impossible to reconcile the two points of view."