(4 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 4 June 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of International Atomic Energy Agency:
“When the previous agreement of the 2015 JCPOA was concluded the then inventory of enriched uranium was shipped out, and it ended up in Russia. I don’t know whether a similar model could be applied in this case. The big difference here is that we are talking about 400, more or less 400kgs of 60% uranium. It’s a very high level of enrichment. So it is a delicate matter but I think that if that was the issue upon which the agreement depended, I’m sure that there will be more than one country which would be willing to assist in this case.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of International Atomic Energy Agency:
"Well, you know, negotiations are of course a process and there is a give and take. The American side has put forward a concrete proposal, I haven’t seen it, it’s something that is part of their own singular dialogue, I would say. The Iranians are expressing some misgivings, but they have not replied officially yet. They are evaluating what the United States has proposed and there, not surprisingly, this… the bone of contention continues to be the enrichment, uranium enrichment. Yes. No. If yes, how much? In what form? If no, alternatives, etc. You mentioned this consortium, there are other ideas that are are being floated. The important thing for me is that they don’t throw (in) the towel, that the process continues."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of International Atomic Energy Agency:
Reporter (English): "And from your conversations with both sides, do you feel that both sides are committed to reaching an agreement?"
Rafael Mariano Grossi (English) "Yes. I think they both want an agreement, which doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get but, (as) simple and obvious as this may sound, having two sides that want an agreement is an enormous advantage. In my long diplomatic career I have participated in negotiations where it was not necessarily the case that the sides wanted an agreement. They were coming to the negotiating table because there was no other chance but they were coming to the negotiating table to try to distract, they were coming to the negotiating table in the hope that it would fail. In this case, when I talked to (U.S.) Ambassador (Steve) Witkoff, I sense the disposition of President Trump – as he himself has said – to have an agreement and when I talk to (Iranian) President (Masoud) Pezeshkian as I did last November or (Iranian) Foreign Minister (Abbas) Araghchi, I think they all they also recognise. Don’t forget that for Iran to negotiate directly with the United States is a very difficult thing. They have traditionally been very reluctant to engage directly with the United States and unlike in the past, in the past you had other people, it was a bigger table, you had China, you had Russia you had the Europeans, etc. Now it’s a one on one. And we will see what happens, but I think it is important this is why we have to support them both."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE ++
STORYLINE:
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says he believes both the US and Iran want to reach an agreement in ongoing negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, spoke in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Damascus on Wednesday, where he met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other officials.
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