International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday he hopes to hold talks with new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian by November on improving Iran's cooperation with his agency, Reuters reported.
"He (Pezeshkian) agreed to meet with me at an appropriate juncture," Grossi said in a statement to a quarterly meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, referring to an exchange after Pezeshkian's election in July.
"I encourage Iran to facilitate such a meeting in the not-too-distant future so that we can establish a constructive dialogue that leads swiftly to real results," he added.
The IAEA has long sought answers from Iran regarding the origin and current location of man-made uranium particles found at two undeclared sites, Varamin and Turquzabad, as part of the IAEA's years-long investigation.
In addition, the IAEA has published several reports which have found that Iran has significantly expanded its stockpile of uranium enriched to levels close to weapons-grade, defying international demands.
With nuclear diplomacy largely stalled between the Iranian presidential election and the US one on November 5, Grossi said he wanted to make real progress soon.
Asked at a news conference if his reference to the "not-too-distant future" meant before or after the US election, Grossi replied, "No, hopefully before that."
Commenting on the agency’s reports about Iran’s nuclear program, Grossi said, "What we see is that there is some work, but nothing that indicates a rush to a fast implementation of a big increase in terms of enrichment production."
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers, in response to then-US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018.
In July, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within "one or two weeks."
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently signaled openness to renewed negotiations with the United States over the Iranian nuclear program, stating there was “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”
At the same time, Khamenei also reiterated his warnings that Washington cannot be trusted.