Tensions brew between Tehran and the IAEA over nuclear plant

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that he and the authorities in charge of Tehran’s nuclear programme ‘need to talk, and we need to do it soon’. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has said he will need to go to Tehran very soon to restore his inspectorate’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme.

Rafael Grossi also said that Iran should not have carried out recent unilateral changes at the Fordow nuclear plant, which will require increased inspections. The modifications, discovered by the IAEA and reported to the board of governors last month, involved an undeclared change to the interconnection between two machines enriching advanced uranium.