London - Saba:
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi has expressed optimism about the indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States in an interview with a British newspaper on Friday.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Grossi described these talks as "very serious."
The IAEA Director General said: "I have seen situations where countries had to be persuaded to want to negotiate. This is not the case here. The talks are very serious."
The newspaper quoted Grossi in part of its report on the interview, stating that Iran's nuclear capabilities cannot be eliminated with a limited attack.
The newspaper then quoted Grossi as saying: "The most sensitive things are half a mile underground—I've been there several times. To get to them, you have to go down a winding tunnel, down, down, down."
So far, five rounds of indirect negotiations have taken place between Iran and the United States, mediated by Oman.
The main disagreement in these talks revolves around uranium enrichment and the lifting of sanctions.
The United States is demanding a complete halt to enrichment and even the dismantling of Iran's non-military nuclear program, while Iran considers enrichment for peaceful purposes a right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and stipulates the full lifting of sanctions as a precondition for an agreement, according to Tasnim News Agency.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful and is demanding guarantees that the United States will abide by the agreement.
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