Nuclear: Iran and the IAEA agree on a new cooperation framework

IAEA Director Rafael Grossi hailed this as "an important step in the right direction." He said on X that he had agreed at a meeting in Cairo with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "on practical arrangements for resuming inspections in Iran" of nuclear activities. The meeting in Cairo, attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, was the first between Araghchi and Grossi since the 12-day war sparked by an Israeli attack on Iran in June.

The Iranian nuclear issue has long poisoned Iran's relations with the West. Western countries, led by the United States, and Iran's sworn enemy Israel, suspect the Iranian government of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb. Iran vigorously denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to nuclear weapons for civilian purposes.

After the meeting in Cairo, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai announced that "Iran and the IAEA had reached an agreement on how to act in this new context, following the illegitimate attacks carried out by the United States and the Zionist regime against our country's peaceful nuclear facilities," without giving further details.

Later, Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Grossi signed an agreement entitled "Technical Modalities for the Implementation of Inspections." Mr. Abdelatty said he hoped the agreement "will mark the true starting point of a new relationship between the two parties, characterized by greater transparency." He also hoped that it "will foster an understanding" first with the European countries that had threatened to reinstate sanctions against Iran, and then "lead to a return to the negotiating table between Iran and the United States."

Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Grossi then met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who welcomed "a positive step towards de-escalation."

Tehran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after the war, which began on June 13 with an unprecedented Israeli attack on Iranian soil. Iran criticized the IAEA for failing to condemn the Israeli, and later American, bombings that targeted its nuclear facilities during the conflict.

Tehran also believes the IAEA bears some responsibility for the surprise Israeli attack, as it came the day after a critical resolution on Iran's nuclear program was passed at the agency's headquarters in Vienna. Since July, a law passed in the Iranian parliament has banned all cooperation with the IAEA.

Agency inspectors nevertheless made a brief return to Iran in late August to replace fuel at the Bushehr site, the country's main nuclear power plant. But they were unable to access the sites bombed in June, where the exact extent of the damage is unknown.

The meeting between Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Grossi came at a time when France, the United Kingdom and Germany (the E3 group) are threatening to reinstate sanctions against Iran at the end of September, which were suspended since 2015 by an international nuclear agreement concluded with Tehran.