Argentine Rafael Grossi warned that without strict control of Iran’s nuclear plan, any peace agreement will be only “an illusion”

Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, stressed the need for a comprehensive verification regime for the Iranian nuclear program, after US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that a second round of talks with Iran could be held in the next two days. The government of the North American country indicated that prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon It is a key objective of the war.

Iran has repeatedly assured that it is not developing these types of weapons, but rejects limits to its nuclear plan. The regime has also long insisted that its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western nations maintain that Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003.

For the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has a reserve of 440.9 kilograms (972 lb) of uranium enriched to 60% puritya short technical step away from the 90% weapons grade levels. That reservation could allow Iran build up to 10 nuclear bombsif he decided to weaponize his program.

“Iran has a very ambitious and extensive nuclear program, so all of that will require the presence of IAEA inspectors,” Grossi told reporters in Seoul. “Otherwise, there will be no agreement. There will be an illusion of agreement”he added.

He also stated that any arrangement on nuclear technology “requires very detailed verification mechanisms.” Such highly enriched nuclear material should normally be verified every month, according to IAEA guidelines.

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Esmaeil Baqei said Wednesday that Tehran’s right to enrich uranium is “indisputable” but that the level of such enrichment is “negotiable” and that no one can “take away” Iran’s right to make peaceful use of nuclear energy, neither “by coercion nor through war.”

“Regarding the level and type of enrichment, we have always stated that this issue is negotiable. We have stressed that Iran should be able to continue enrichment based on its needs“he added.

Previously Iran did not allow the IAEA access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States during a 12-day war in June, according to a confidential IAEA report distributed to member states. The report stressed that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” nor the “size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”

The initial round of talks between the two countries failed to produce an agreement last weekend in Pakistan. The White House indicated that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a central point of friction. But an Iranian diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door talks, denied that the negotiations had failed for that reason.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Grossi also said that his agency confirmed “a rapid increase” in activity at nuclear facilities in North Korea. His comments echoed a view among many foreign observers that leader Kim Jong-un has taken steps to expand his main Yongbyon nuclear complex and build additional uranium enrichment sites since his diplomacy with the United States collapsed in 2019.

Last September, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said North Korea was operating four uranium enrichment facilities and that they were running every day.