UN Atomic Watchdog Will Prioritize Iran as Potential Deal Looms

The United Nations atomic watchdog will make verifying the full scope of Tehran’s nuclear capabilities its top priority, as Iran and the US edge toward a possible agreement to end the war in the Middle East, according to the organization’s chief.

“We will have to be looking at everything there, everything,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters in Vienna on Friday.

The IAEA has warned member countries that the risk of Iran covertly pursuing nuclear weapons is higher now than before the 12-day US and Israeli military campaign against Tehran last June, with the agency unable to draw conclusions about the state of Tehran’s nuclear materials since that conflict.

Read More: Iran Atomic Risk Seen Higher Than Before Trump Attacks Began

It’s still unclear whether Washington and Tehran will actually sign a deal anytime soon. Senior officials said a deal could be signed on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders summit next week in the French Alps — with nearby Geneva suggested as a possible signing location.

Trump has repeatedly suggested a deal is close without any agreement materializing. And any pact would likely defer negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile for a later date.

Monitors from the IAEA have yet to return to damaged sites in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz, where Iran’s nearly 441 kilograms (972 pounds) of highly enriched uranium and about 8,600 kilograms of lower enriched material were last seen.

“You cannot say this is important and the other is less important,” Grossi told reporters, pointing to the country’s highly enriched uranium and other nuclear material.

A draft of a 14-point agreement reported by Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr calls for 60 days of nuclear talks and official endorsements, or resolutions, at the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors.

Those resolutions would be a “very important formality that needs to be there,” said Grossi, while emphasizing that his agency’s most important role will be verification of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

The potential agreement still needs to be reviewed and finalized by authorities in Tehran, Mehr said.

President Donald Trump criticized Iran on Friday over leaked details of the possible deal, saying the “terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to.”

He added, “They better get their act together, and FAST!”