Senior US Lawmaker Slams UN Nuclear Chief's Upcoming Visit To Iran

The Chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul, has criticized a reported trip by Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Iran.

Grossi is set to attend a conference in Isfahan, Iran next week.

"I am concerned by reports the IAEA Director-General plans to participate in an international nuke conference in Iran next week. This risks legitimizing Iran’s illicit nuclear activity. Focus instead needs to be on holding Iran to account for NPT-related violations," he wrote on X.

The IAEA has confirmed that Grossi’s visit on May 6 aims to engage with officials and participate in the 'International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology.'

The visit comes just days after Grossi said that Iran was "weeks, not months" from acquiring the material needed for a nuclear weapon.

Ties between Iran and the IAEA have deteriorated, with Grossi in February acknowledging a "drifting apart" as Iran becomes defiant.

He also mentioned that the country is still enriching uranium to 60 percent purity at a rate of around 7 kg per month reaching levels close to those used for producing weapons.

Iran's uranium enrichment vastly exceeds the limits of the 2015 JCPOA agreement, which restricted Iran's uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent. Following the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 during former President Donald Trump's administration and the subsequent reimposition of sanctions Iran began to exceed these limits in 2021.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated that the 2015 nuclear pact has essentially collapsed, sparking concerns about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities.