The Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Will Visit Iran on Wednesday

Iranian state media reported on Sunday, November 20, that Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will travel to Iran next Wednesday and will begin consultations with Iranian officials the following day. Grossi stated last Wednesday that he might visit Tehran in the coming days to discuss Iran's contentious nuclear program and added that he expects to cooperate with the elected U.S. President Donald Trump. Grossi noted that Iran has shown signs of willingness to return to nuclear negotiations. Among the longstanding issues between Iran, the IAEA, and Western powers are Tehran's prohibition of uranium enrichment experts from IAEA inspection teams entering Iran and the lack of explanation regarding uranium traces found at undeclared sites for years. Since 2019, after Donald Trump, the then U.S. President, withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement that Iran had reached with world powers and reimposed harsh U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Iran has increased its nuclear activities. Under this agreement, Iran had limited uranium enrichment, which the West viewed as a covert attempt to develop nuclear weapon capabilities. Tehran is now enriching uranium to 60% purity, which is close to the 90% required for a nuclear bomb. According to IAEA standards, Iran has enough enriched uranium to produce about four nuclear bombs, should it choose to enrich further. Iran has long denied any plans to build a nuclear bomb, stating that it only enriches uranium for non-military energy purposes. Grossi's visit to Iran comes as Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and senior advisor to Ali Khamenei, stated in an interview with the Lebanese news network Al-Mayadeen on November 2 that if Iran faces an existential threat, it will change its 'nuclear doctrine.' Kharrazi emphasized the Islamic Republic's capability to build nuclear weapons in response to an Israeli airstrike on Iranian military facilities on November 5, stating, 'Iran will respond to Israel.' This is the second time this year that Kharrazi has emphasized the possibility of changing Iran's military and nuclear doctrine. Kharrazi had also made similar remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera on May 9, which drew a strong reaction from the United States, and the European Union urged the Islamic Republic to abandon this threat.