Iran 'not far' from having nuclear weapons, claims UN watchdog chief: Report

Rafael Grossi, the nuclear watchdog chief of the United Nations, issued a warning on Wednesday where he claimed that Iran is 'not far' from possessing a nuclear bomb, as per a report by the news agency AFP.

In an interview with French news outlet Le Monde, Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said regarding Tehran's nuclear capabilities, "It's like a puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they could eventually put them together."

"There's still a way to go before they get there. But they're not far off, that has to be acknowledged," he further added.

Washington aims to halt Tehran's sensitive uranium enrichment work - regarded by the United States, Israel and European powers as a path to nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy production.

A spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will "discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks" with Russian officials. Moscow, a party to Iran's 2015 nuclear pact, has supported Tehran's right to have a civilian nuclear programme.

Since 2019, Iran has far surpassed the 2015 deal's limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a civilian energy programme and close to that required for nuclear warheads.

The IAEA has raised the alarm regarding Iran's growing stock of 60 per cent enriched uranium, and reported no real progress on resolving long-running issues, including the unexplained presence of uranium traces at undeclared sites. Grossi was in Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian media reported, in an attempt to narrow gaps between Tehran and the agency over unresolved issues.

"Continued engagement and cooperation with the agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed," Grossi said on X on Monday.

On Wednesday, he met Araghchi, and is also expected to have a meeting with the country's nuclear energy agency chief, Mohammad Eslami.

Iran has earlier stated that the enrichment of uranium it carries out for its nucler programme is "non-negotiable".

"We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable," Araghchi had earlier said.

(With Reuters inputs)