UN nuclear watchdog says US-Iran talks at a 'very crucial' stage

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program are ''in a very crucial'' stage, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Thursday while on a visit to the Islamic Republic.

The comments by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tehran included an acknowledgment his agency likely would be key in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached. Iran and the U.S. will meet again Saturday in Rome for a new round of talks after last weekend's first meeting in Oman.

Grossi's visit also coincided with Saudi Arabia's defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, visiting Tehran as the highest-ranking official from the kingdom to visit Iran since the two countries reached a Chinese-mediated détente in 2023. That's as Saudi Arabia tries to end its decadelong war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen — even as a new, intense campaign of U.S. airstrikes targets them.

The stakes of the negotiations Saturday and the wider geopolitical tensions in the Mideast couldn't be higher, particularly as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

''I'm not in a rush to do it because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death — and I'd like to see that, that's my first option,'' Trump said when asked about a possible attack while meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office.

Grossi visits during ‘crucial' Iran-US talks

Grossi arrived in Iran on Wednesday night and met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who now is in Moscow for separate talks likely over the negotiations. On Thursday, Grossi met with Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, then later toured a hall featuring some of Iran's civilian nuclear projects.

''We know that we are in a very crucial, I would say, stage of this important negotiation, so I want to concentrate on the positive,'' Grossi told Iranian media. ''There is a possibility of a good outcome. Nothing is guaranteed. We need to make sure that we put all of the elements in place ... in order to get to this agreement."

He added: ''We know we don't have much time. So this is why I'm here. This is why I'm in contact with the United States as well.''

Asked about Trump's threats to attack Iran, Grossi urged people to ''concentrate on our objective.''

''Once we get to our objective, all of these things will evaporate because there will be no reason for concern,'' he said.

For his part, Eslami said Iran expected the IAEA to ''maintain impartiality and act professionally,'' a report from the state-run IRNA news agency said.

Since the nuclear deal's collapse in 2018 with Trump's unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency's most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003.

Despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked. But Grossi acknowledged in a French newspaper interview that ''Iran has enough material to build not one but several bombs.''

''It's like a jigsaw puzzle; they've got the pieces and one day they might be able to put them together,'' he told Le Monde. ''There's still a long way to go before that happens. But they're not far off, admittedly.''

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the upcoming Iran-U.S. talks this weekend ''a good sign.''

''We very much hope that the dialogue between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran yields a positive outcome which will see the lowering of tensions in the Gulf region, in the Middle East and between the two countries," he said.

Saudi prince becomes kingdom's highest-level visitor to Tehran in decades

Prince Khalid bin Salman, the son of King Salman and the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Tehran on Thursday. Iran's joint chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, greeted the prince on his arrival and an honor guard played for the two men.

Prince Khalid, a fighter pilot, has become the first Saudi defense minister to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He's also the highest-ranking Saudi royal to visit in decades. The last was King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who did so as crown prince in 1997 for an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting held in Tehran.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency, announcing the prince's arrival, said his trip would include ''a number of meetings to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and issues of common interest,'' without elaborating.

The visit is significant, particularly given the decades of enmity between the two countries. Saudi Arabia has been for years trying to get a peace deal agreed to with the Houthis. A de facto ceasefire broadly has halted hostilities in the war, though the Houthis increasingly have threatened both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid the U.S. airstrikes.

Prince Khalid met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as President Masoud Pezeshkian on his trip.

''It is much better for brothers in the region to cooperate and support each other than to rely on outsiders,'' Khamenei said, according to state media.

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Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Associated Press writers Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.