Euronews/AP:

Tensions with Israel and Tehran's ongoing enrichment of uranium have put the international nuclear weapons control regime under major stress.

Iran and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog are still negotiating over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic program, officials said on Tuesday.

The acknowledgement by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, shows the challenges his inspectors face, years after the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and the wider tensions gripping the Middle East in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

He has also acknowledged the agency's inability to ensure that none of Iran's centrifuges have been used for clandestine enrichment.

On a visit to the Iranian city of Isfahan, Grossi held a press conference alongside Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation. While both men said there would be no immediate new deal struck during the visit, they pointed to a March 2023 joint statement as a path forward for cooperation.

That statement included a pledge by Iran to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to “implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”

Grossi has previously warned that Tehran has enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels to potentially manufacture "several" nuclear bombs should it decide to do so.

While Grossi offered few specifics on the ongoing discussions, according to Grossi technical teams were in negotiations. He emphasised the need for concrete measures to put the agreement into place. Eslami, meanwhile, described the implementation problems as "mainly political".

In a subsequent statement in Vienna, Grossi reaffirmed that the 2023 joint statement is "still alive".

“I want results and I want them soon,” Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport. “The present state is completely unsatisfactory,” he said.

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