Araghchi tells IAEA Iran's nuclear programme is within terms of monitoring agreement

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with the director of the UN’s nuclear watchdog early on Sunday after a report by the agency said Tehran is increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Mr Araghchi said on Telegram that during the conversation with IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi he told him that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are within the framework of agreements and being monitored by the agency.

He pledged “continuous co-operation” from Iran and asked Mr Grossi to ensure “that certain parties do not exploit the agency for political agendas against the Iranian people”.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was seen by AFP and AP on Saturday, said Iran in recent months had increased its production of highly enriched uranium.

In a separate in-depth report, the IAEA also criticised “less than satisfactory” co-operation from Tehran over scrutiny of its nuclear programme.

“While Iran continues to co-operate with the agency on matters of routine safeguards implementation, in a number of respects … its co-operation with the agency has been less than satisfactory,” the report said.

Western nations fear Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a claim Tehran denies. Iran said the IAEA report is “politically motivated and repeats baseless accusations”, state media reported on Saturday.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi on Sunday published a detailed response, rejecting many of the report's findings.

“So long as a country’s nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s monitoring, there is no cause for concern,” he said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.”

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi visited Tehran on Saturday and presented details of a US proposal for a deal on the nuclear programme to Iranian authorities, Mr Araghchi said.

Mr Araghchi said in a post on X that Sayyid Badr “paid a short visit to Tehran today to present elements of a US proposal which will be appropriately responded to in line with the principles, national interests and rights of the people of Iran”.

Iran and the US have held five rounds of talks – three in Muscat and two in Rome – mediated by the Omani Foreign Minister to resolve the decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Araghchi's statement on X came ahead of an anticipated sixth round, a date and venue for which have not been announced.

One of the main sticking points has been US insistence that Iran give up its nuclear enrichment facilities, a demand Iran rejects. Mr Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and six world powers in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

In the intervening years, Tehran has overstepped limits set in the 2015 agreement on its nuclear programme, which were designed to make it harder to develop an atom bomb.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Saturday confirmed the US plan had been passed to Iran, saying US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff “has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal”.

Ms Leavitt said “President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb”.

On Friday, Mr Trump said a deal was possible in the “not-too-distant future”. Earlier in the week, he told reporters he had recently warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take action that could disrupt the talks with Iran. Those comments appeared to signal US concern that Israel might strike Iran's nuclear facilities.

But Mr Trump himself has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails to achieve a deal.