The head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday concluded high-level talks in Geneva with Iran’s foreign minister, ahead of renewed negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

International Atomic Energy Agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, said he had “just completed in-depth technical discussions” with Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.

Mr Grossi posted the remark on X alongside a photograph showing the two officials seated together during the meeting. The discussions came amid persistent tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Araghchi travelled to Switzerland on Sunday for a new round of talks with U.S. negotiators scheduled for Tuesday.

Dialogue between Tehran and Washington resumed in early February in Oman, following renewed military threats by President Donald Trump.

The Geneva talks are again being mediated by Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi. Switzerland, like several Gulf states, is regarded by Tehran as a neutral intermediary.

Relations between Tehran and the IAEA deteriorated sharply after last year’s conflict between Iran and Israel.

In June 2025, the U.S. joined Israeli strikes, targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities, including uranium enrichment sites.

Mr Trump later claimed the sites had been “completely and totally obliterated”, although questions remain over the fate of roughly 400 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium.

In the aftermath of the strikes, Iran curtailed access for UN nuclear inspectors. It was not until September 2025 that Tehran and the IAEA reached an agreement to resume inspections.

The extent to which monitoring activities were being carried out remained unclear.

Mr Grossi has faced criticism from Iranian hardliners in recent months.

An ultra-conservative newspaper had accused him of acting as an Israeli spy and called for the death penalty.

Some Iranian officials had also argued that the IAEA chief did not condemn the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities forcefully enough. 

(dpa/NAN)