Iran needs to strike nuclear understanding with Trump, IAEA says

Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg News on Jan 21, 2025

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Iran needs to reach an understanding over its atomic activity with the administration of Donald Trump in order to avoid being dragged into another military conflict in the Middle East, according to the world’s top nuclear regulator.

Six-and-a-half years after Trump abrogated an agreement that gave the Islamic Republic sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear activities, Iran’s stockpile of near bomb-grade enriched uranium is surging to new record highs.

“There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that was not the path he wanted to follow,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday in Davos. “Now we need to come to terms with how we deal with this, excluding of course, a war. We don’t want more wars.”

The IAEA chief confirmed Iran continues producing large quantities of highly-enriched uranium. In December, Tehran’s engineers increased capacity sevenfold, to about 34 kilograms (75 pounds) a month in response to a diplomatic censure in November.

“We are engaging with Russia, with China, with the European countries, but it’s clear for everybody that the U.S. is indispensable,” Grossi said. “What we need is to find an understanding. This is going to be our mission in the next few weeks.”

Before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, his officials were readying new plans to squeeze Iran. There’s a general consensus among key advisers to return to a full maximum pressure strategy starting with a big sanctions package that hits major players in the oil industry, which could come as early as February.

France, Germany and the U.K. are similarly laying the groundwork for piling new pressure on Iran. They ordered IAEA inspectors to produce a special report in the first-half of 2025 about Iran’s nuclear activities. The document will be shared with the United Nations Security Council , which may choose reimpose UN sanctions before they expire in October.

“This is something that needs to be put back on track,” Grossi said, adding that he hoped to meet with the Trump government “very very soon.”