A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts arrived in Tehran on Sunday as part of an investigation into the origin of enriched uranium particles at three undeclared Iranian sites, Al Jazeera reports.
"A delegation consisting of five representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Sunday for new talks with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the report said.
Head of Iran's atomic regulator Mohammad Eslami said on December 14 that IAEA representatives would visit Tehran in the near future. On the same day, Al-Arabia TV reported with reference to the statement of an official representative of the IAEA that the experts of the agency would arrive in the Islamic Republic on December 18. According to the official, in the course of the visit, the sides intend to discuss Iran's compliance with its safeguards obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
IAEA Director-General Raphael Grossi said on November 10 that talks with Iran in Vienna had ended without any result. Reuters later reported, citing an IAEA report, that Tehran had agreed to a visit of the agency, which is investigating the origin of uranium particles at three undeclared nuclear sites in the Islamic republic, in November. The requirement to allow IAEA inspectors access to these sites was a key condition for reinstating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani confirmed that an IAEA delegation visit was planned, but Eslami said on November 16 that the visit was not on the agenda. For his part, Grossi said that the agency was ready to continue working with Iran on the outstanding safeguards issues and hoped for a technical meeting.
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Based on materials from TASS