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Iran's nuclear program

IAEA chief is welcome to visit Iran at any time to discuss technical issues — top diplomat

The Iranian foreign minister condemned the absence of due reaction from the IAEA to a number of subversive actions at the Natanz nuclear site, as well as attempts from IAEA leadership to meddle in issues of political nature

MOSCOW, October 6./TASS/. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi can visit Iran at any time to discuss technical issues, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told a news conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.

"Iran will be ready to receive Mr. Grossi at any time to discuss technical issues and will welcome the respective decision of the IAEA chief to make such a visit," he stressed.

The Iranian foreign minister condemned the absence of due reaction from the IAEA to a number of subversive actions at the Natanz nuclear site, as well as attempts from IAEA leadership to meddle in issues of political nature. "We are discontent with this," he stated. "But if Mr. Grossi intends to limit himself to the discussion of only technical issues, we are ready to organize this visit and ensure the IAEA chief’s meetings with the appropriate persons," the foreign minister stressed.

On April 11, 2021, an incident was reported at the Natanz nuclear site. Iran reported that an outage was registered at the site’s power distribution grid, which led to an explosion. There were no casualties or environmental damage. Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Head Ali Akbar Salehi called the incident a "display of nuclear terrorism." The New York Times claimed citing its sources that the explosion was organized by Israel. Later, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also claimed that Israel was involved.

In another development at the same facility, on July 2, 2020, an explosion hit a centrifuge assembly facility, an incident that Iran also claimed Israel was behind.

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Iran's nuclear program issue

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