Iran to Resume Talks with IAEA Even After Threatening to Kill Its Head

The mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran have indicated their readiness to resume talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): “Iran says it will continue talks with IAEA after curbing access,” Reuters, August 18, 2025:

DUBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Iran will continue talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the two sides will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have been unable to access Iran’s nuclear sites since Israel and the U.S. bombed them during a 12-day war in June, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top priority.

“We had talks (with the IAEA) last week. These talks will continue and there will be another round of talks between Iran and the agency probably in the coming days,” Baghaei said….

Yet it wasn’t too very long ago that the semi-official Iranian newspaper Kayhan published a threat against the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, claiming that he was an Israeli agent and should be tried and then executed. More on this outrage can be found here: “Iranian newspaper calls to arrest and execute IAEA chief, European nations condemn,” Reuters, June 30, 2025:

Britain, France and Germany denounced threats against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent.

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the Agency and the DG in carrying out their mandate,” said a statement from the three countries’ foreign ministries.

“We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA. We urge Iran to immediately resume full cooperation in line with its legally binding obligations, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of IAEA personnel,” they added.

The statement did not specify what threats had been made against Grossi, but it follows an article in Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper, closely associated with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which accused Grossi of ties to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Should Grossi enter Iran, he should be tried and sentenced to death, it said.

Grossi has not directly responded to the newspaper’s allegations. He has said his top priority is ensuring IAEA inspectors can return to nuclear sites in Iran as soon as possible….

For several years, the Iranians have ignored their obligations as signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires them to allow in IAEA inspectors, who are to be given the freedom to enter any site that they suspect may have been used to develop nuclear weapons. Instead of cooperating with the IAEA, the Iranians have declared whole sites off-limits to investigators. They have refused to explain the uranium that the inspectors found in sites that they were allowed to investigate, sites that Iran had declared free of any enrichment activity. They have also failed to give a satisfactory explanation of why they have needed to enrich uranium to a level of 60% purity, that is just one level below weapons-grade. The Iranians have claimed that they are enriching uranium only to be used in reactors supplying nuclear energy, but everyone knows that for that peaceful use of atomic energy, a level of 3.57% purity is all that is required. Iran, when repeatedly asked to explain why it has enriched uranium in has enriched to 60%, simply stonewalls. Finally, Iran has failed to tell the IAEA what has happened to the 900 pounds of enriched uranium that has gone missing.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Monday that the IAEA’s “double standards” had created problems for regional and global security, Iranian state media reported.

“The view of the Iranian government, parliament, and people is that the IAEA director has not acted impartially in relation to our country’s nuclear file, despite all the cooperation and interactions that have taken place, and this behavior is in no way acceptable to us,” the reports quote Pezeshkian as saying.

President Pezeshian mentions “all the cooperation and interactions” that have taken place between Iran and the IAEA. What can he be thinking of? Iran has lied repeatedly to the IAEA. It hid from the IAEA the fact that it began its nuclear program many years earlier than it claimed. It was only when the Mossad managed in 2018 to spirit out of Tehran Iran’s complete nuclear archive that the full extent of the program, including when it began, came to light. Nor did Iran “cooperate” when it prevented the IAEA inspectors from visiting a half-dozen sites. It did not “cooperate” when it refused to explain the traces of uranium found at sites, that the inspectors did visit, having been assured by Iran that there had never been any uranium enrichment at those sites.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said Grossi is not welcome in Iran, having carried out “malign action” and played a “regrettable role.”

Iran also said on Monday it could not yet be expected to guarantee the safety of IAEA inspectors.

“How can they expect us to ensure the safety and security of the agency’s inspectors when Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities were attacked a few days ago?” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a news conference.

So the powerful government of Iran declared itself unable to “ensure the safety and security”of the IAEA’s inspectors? This also constituted a sinister threat to the IAEA inspectors: “We can’t be sure our enraged populace won’t attack you. You’d better not come. We won’t be responsible for any harm that may come to you.”

Iran’s refusal to fulfill its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by not giving IAEA inspectors the freedom to investigate wherever they choose, should be brought up by the US and the UK at the UN’s Security Council. A resolution ought to condemn Iran not just for its failure to comply by letting the inspectors go where they want, but also for its deliberate attempts to deceive the inspectors about uranium traces found at supposedly non-nuclear sites, and for, even more outrageous, the threat to the life of Rafael Grossi, and unambiguous threats as well to the safety of his investigators.

And now the Iranians want to resume talks? Grossi and the IAEA should think twice.