Upon his return from an official visit to Iran, UN Atomic Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi today (7 May) told reporters in Vienna that “there is some kind of expectation sometimes that there will be a touch of a magic wand, and we will solve issues,” and added that “this does not exist. It's impossible.”

Grossi explained that the intention behind the trip was “to reengage, to have a serious conversation and to start analysing a number of concrete proposals, which could feed into the different areas” covered in the March 2023, Joint Statement.

He said, "there are a lot of political things involved, some of them within my purview, some of them not. All right? when it comes to lifting of sanctions and things like that, which are very important for Iran, I am not the one who has the key to solve these issues.”

The IAEA Chief said, “Iran has expectations as I have them as well. But until we have a package, we cannot say exactly how far we can go. At the end of the day, if they engage, really, we will be able to solve things.”

He said, “we have a very, very, very complex set of issues. Some of them dating back to the past, some of them taking place right now. And we have to go, our inspectors have to go, we have to check. We have to see to what extent we can declare something solved or not.” 

Grossi said, “I want results and I want them soon. And I think they understand that as well. This has to be, we have to be moving on. This is something I said in a press conference in Isfahan today. We have to be moving on -- the present state is completely unsatisfactory.”

He said he had been told by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian “that they are ready to engage in concrete, very concrete measures.” The IAEA Chief said, “I, of course, welcome this. Now we have to work on it."