The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),  warned the "space for negotiation and diplomacy ... is getting smaller" over Iran's advancing atomic program.

Rafael Grossi was in Tehran on Thursday to make a significant push for a new nuclear deal.

"It is indispensable to get, at this point in time, to some concrete, tangible, visible results that will indicate that this joint work is improving the situation... and in a general sense is moving us away from conflict and ultimately war," Grossi told a joint news conference with Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami.

Grossi also spoke with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who wrote afterward on X that "the ball is in the EU/E3" court. E3 refers to the UK, France, and Germany. 

He said his government was "Willing to negotiate based on our national interest and inalienable rights, but not ready to negotiate under pressure and intimidation."

Why are Western powers seeking a nuclear deal?

For decades, the West has raised concerns that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons program that could destabilize international order. Tehran, for its part, has always argued that its uranium enrichment plants are for possible nuclear power plants.

In 2015, an international agreement known as JCPOA saw Iran promise to drop its uranium enrichment program in exchange for the removal of sanctions that have crippled its economy. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in 2018, prompting Iran to declare the deal void.

With Trump heading back to the White House, there are fears within the IAEA that the window could be closing for a new deal.

Significant hurdles remain, however. After the original agreement fell through, Tehran once again began enriching uranium and now has a stockpile of 6,000 kilograms. Morever, diplomatic relations between Iran and Germany are even more tense than usual over the death of an Iranian-German software developer who was kidnapped in Dubai and put on death row in Iran.

es/lo (AFP, dpa, Reuters)