VIENNA, September 10. /TASS/. Tehran’s readiness not to leave the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is encouraging, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said at the organization’s Board of Governors meeting following talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"It was encouraging for us to see Iran’s declared willingness not to leave the NPT," he said.

Grossi added that Iran had also declared readiness to observe the non-proliferation regime. That said, according to him, the Islamic republic had also raised a number of issues of concern. The IAEA chief added that the organization’s duty is to take note of these issues and find the ways to respond to them in a manner that allows reaching a compromise between Iran’s new legislation and its international obligations.

On September 9, Iran and the IAEA agreed on the modalities to resume the agency’s inspections at Iranian nuclear sites. They were suspended following the June attacks by Israel and the US as the absence of the IAEA’s condemnation of the countries that attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities sparked backlash in Iran.

Iranian nuclear issue

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany struck a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear program. Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, the US and France have been in talks with Iran in Vienna since April 2021, seeking to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in its original form, without achieving any specific results.

In response to Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, in 2020, the Iranian parliament passed a law outlining a strategic plan to remove sanctions and protect the Iranian people’s interests. As part of this plan, Iran scaled back several obligations under the nuclear deal, particularly by suspending inspections by the IAEA beyond the safeguard agreement related to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and prohibiting the use of stringent monitoring measures.

Earlier, Iran vowed to withdraw from the NPT if the snapback mechanism, allowing for the return of all UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran that were suspended under the JCPOA is activated.

In 2025, five rounds of negotiations between Iran and the US failed to yield significant progress. The diplomatic process was hindered by Israel’s military operation targeting Iran, followed by US strikes on three key sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.