IAEA chief Grossi to visit Iran on Monday, says Iranian nuclear official

FILE PHOTO: International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (off frame) in the Benjamin Franklin Room ahead of a meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S. October 18, 2021. Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERS

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi will visit Iran next week, an Iranian official said on Wednesday, as Tehran and world powers prepare to resume talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.

"Grossi will arrive in Tehran on Monday," Iranian state media quoted the spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Behrouz Kamalvandi, as saying.

Grossi's trip takes place just before next week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation Board of Governors.

Western powers scrapped plans in September for a board resolution criticising Iran after Tehran agreed on Sept. 12 to prolong monitoring of some nuclear activities and invited Grossi to Tehran for talks on outstanding issues.

Kamalvandi said Grossi will meet Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Iran's nuclear chief during his visit.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Toby Chopra and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)