International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi on Monday afternoon announced he had reached a deal with Iran to extend inspections of its nuclear program until June 24 to give negotiations between world powers over Iran’s nuclear program a chance.
In addition, a deal for Tehran to save electronic data from its nuclear facilities since February, but postponing giving access to that data, was also extended, he said.
“If this understanding was important in February… it was even more important now” due to Tehran’s recent increased enrichment of uranium, Grossi told a press conference.
In dramatic fashion, the Monday afternoon press conference had been delayed three times since Sunday afternoon, as Grossi resolved certain unspecified last-minute concerns from the Islamic Republic.
All of the developments were even more significant because the IAEA’s right to inspect Iran’s nuclear program had expired on May 21, and some senior Iranian officials had suggested it would not be extended – a potential prelude to a major crisis.
There could be negative implications for inspections if a nuclear deal is not reached by the world powers by the new deadline, Grossi said.
Nevertheless, he said he was not concerned that a new Iranian president after June 18 would undermine cooperation with the IAEA.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi, appeared to double down on a tough negotiating position with the US as time ran out on IAEA-Tehran cooperation and with June 18 presidential elections creeping closer.
The US, Iran and the world powers have had five rounds of negotiations in Vienna in recent months to try to resolve the nuclear standoff.
“The US must first provide verifiable sanctions lifting. Iran will then resume full implementation,” Araghchi said in response to interviews given by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Sunday, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.
“Yesterday I spent 4hrs before our Parliament’s NatSec/FP Commission to brief MPs on Vienna talks. Very tough. But useful,” Araghchi wrote on his Twitter account.
“Bottom line is same: Having left JCPOA, US must first provide verifiable sanctions lifting. Iran will then resume full implementation... Is the US ready?” he added.
Lifting US sanctions against Iran is a legal and moral obligation and not negotiating leverage, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said late Sunday in reaction to Blinken.
In a tweet on Sunday, he wrote: “Lifting Trump’s sanctions, @SecBlinken, is a legal & moral obligation. NOT negotiating leverage.”
“Didn’t work for Trump–won’t work for you,” he added.
“Release the Iranian people’s $Billions held hostage abroad due to US bullying... Trump’s legacy is past its expiration date. Drop it, @POTUS,” Zarif wrote.
Blinken on Sunday reiterated the US position that it would lift sanctions simultaneously to Tehran ending its violations of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Iran, I think, knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side, and what we haven’t yet seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do,” he said. “That’s the test, and we don’t yet have an answer.”
It was still unclear early Monday whether Iran’s doubling down was a last-minute saber rattling before it agrees to a mutual return to the 2015 deal or whether a real crisis was about to hit.
Another possibility is that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does not want the deal finished until after the June 18 presidential election. The theory would be that this way he can deny the pragmatist camp, which is in favor of negotiating with the West, a victory that might bring it more votes on Election Day against his preferred hard-line candidates.
Also on Sunday, Iranian national security sources were entertaining the idea of extending cooperation with the IAEA for one more month to allow negotiations between the US, Iran and the world powers to continue, Mehr reported.
Iran’s parliament passed a law last year demanding that the US lift sanctions by February 21 or IAEA inspections could be ended.
A deal was reached extending that cooperation until May 21, and the situation was up in the air until Grossi’s announcement.