World

IAEA says ready to support ME peace effort

Verification ​Role

(FILES) Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi attends the IAEA痴 Board of Governors' meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on January 30, 2026. The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog on April 6, 2026 warned attacks near Iran's Bushehr atomic power plant "pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop". The facility, located in the south of the country and equipped with a 1,000-megawatt reactor, has been targeted four times since the US-Israeli war on Iran began. The latest strike was reported by Iranian state media on April 4. Strikes near the operating plant "could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond," said Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on X. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)
 
(FILES) Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi attends the IAEA痴 Board of Governors' meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on January 30, 2026. The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog on April 6, 2026 warned attacks near Iran's Bushehr atomic power plant "pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop". The facility, located in the south of the country and equipped with a 1,000-megawatt reactor, has been targeted four times since the US-Israeli war on Iran began. The latest strike was reported by Iranian state media on April 4. Strikes near the operating plant "could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond," said Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on X. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

VIENNA: The UN ​atomic ​watchdog welcomes the ceasefire agreed overnight between the United States and Iran ⁠and stands ready ⁠to support efforts to find a lasting solution covering ​Tehran's nuclear ⁠programme, Director General ​Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday. 'IAEA ​DG Grossi welcomes ... a return to diplomacy aimed at negotiating a settlement on key ​issues including Iran's ​nuclear programme,' the ⁠IAEA said in a statement. 'The ​IAEA stands ⁠ready to support ​these efforts through its indispensable safeguards and verification ​role.'
In a flurry of online posts on Wednesday morning, Trump announced new tariffs of 50% on ​all goods from any country that supplies Iran with arms. He insisted that Iran had undergone 'regime change' and that it would agree not to enrich uranium, which can be used in nuclear warheads.
Earlier, IAEA ​said it can confirm recent impacts of military strikes close to Iran's ⁠Bushehr nuclear power plant, ⁠but said that the plant itself was not damaged. The ‌UN atomic ​watchdog said ⁠that the ​confirmation was based on its independent analysis of ​new satellite imagery and detailed knowledge of the site, adding that one strike had hit only 75 ​metres from the site ​perimeter. Last week ⁠the agency had said it had ​been informed by ⁠Iran about a ​projectile striking close to the premises of the Bushehr nuclear ​power plant. — Reuters