Talks between Iran, US at ‘very crucial’ stage: UN nuclear watchdog

Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme are “in a very crucial” stage, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.

The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached.

Iran and the US will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend’s first meeting in Oman.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors.

Grossi’s visit also coincided with Saudi Arabia’s defence minister visiting Tehran as the highest-ranking official from the kingdom to visit Iran since the two countries reached a Chinese-mediated détente in 2023. The stakes of the negotiations on Saturday couldn’t be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip.

Khamenei sends letter to Putin

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent his foreign minister to Moscow on Thursday with a letter for President Vladimir Putin to brief the Kremlin about nuclear negotiations with the U.. which has threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic. FM Abbas Araqchi said that Iran's right to enrich uranium is not negotiable.