Iran, U.N. Regulators Agree On Reduced — But Continued — Nuclear Verification

TEHRAN, Feb. 21: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi meets Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

ISTANBUL — After a weekend visit to Tehran by Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the agency and Iran announced their agreement to keep some verification activities going for the immediate future.

Iran had previously announced that, as of Tuesday, Feb. 23, it would suspend snap inspections by IAEA inspectors. Such unscheduled visits were seen by some as an effective means of verifying that Iran wasn’t pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

That announcement prompted Grossi’s visit Saturday. Following the trip, he tweeted, “Intensive consultations led to good results.” The IAEA chief and the head of the the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali- Akbar Salehi, released a joint statement about the agreement.