The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, arrived in Tehran on Saturday, on the eve of a deadline set by Iran for the lifting of US sanctions.
The February 21 deadline had in fact been decided by the Iranian Parliament to restrict certain IAEA inspections on non-nuclear installations, including suspect military sites, if the United States did not lift its sanctions imposed by the previous one. administration of Donald Trump in 2018.
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A possible limitation on inspections would come into effect on Tuesday.
Iran nevertheless stressed that it would not stop collaborating with the IAEA,
the UN "
nuclear watchdog
", and would not expel its inspectors.
These inspections are provided for in the 2015 international agreement, which is supposed to frame the Iranian nuclear program, from which Mr. Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018 by reinstating the American sanctions that are strangling the Iranian economy.
"Cautious diplomacy"
The visit also comes after the call launched on Friday by US President Joe Biden for European powers to work in concert with the United States to respond to
Iran's "
destabilizing activities
", a day after pledging to resume talks on its nuclear program.
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Joe Biden told the Munich security conference that the United States will work closely with its allies to deal with Iran, an approach that contrasts with the one-sided and aggressive one of his predecessor Donald Trump.