By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) -Iran has given sweeping assurances to the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it’s going to lastly help a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles discovered at undeclared websites and even re-install eliminated monitoring gear, the watchdog stated on Saturday.

The Worldwide Atomic Power Company and Iran issued a joint assertion on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s return from a visit to Tehran simply two days earlier than a quarterly assembly of the company’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

The assertion went into little element however the potential for a marked enchancment in relations between the 2 is prone to stave off a Western push for one more decision ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats stated. Iran has, nonetheless, made comparable guarantees earlier than which have yielded little or nothing.

“Iran expressed its readiness to … present additional info and entry to deal with the excellent safeguards points,” the joint assertion stated. A confidential IAEA report back to member states seen by Reuters stated Grossi “appears ahead to … immediate and full implementation of the Joint Assertion”.

Iran is meant to offer entry to info, places and folks, Grossi advised a information convention at Vienna airport quickly after touchdown, suggesting an unlimited enchancment after years of Iranian stonewalling.

Iran would additionally permit the re-installation of additional monitoring gear that had been put in place underneath the 2015 nuclear deal, however then eliminated final yr because the deal unravelled within the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the deal in 2018 underneath then-President Donald Trump.

Iran’s Atomic Power Group spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi, nonetheless, stated Tehran had not agreed to provide entry to individuals.

“Throughout the two days that Mr. Grossi was in Iran, the problem of entry to people was by no means raised,” Kamalvandi advised state information company IRNA, including there additionally has been no deal concerning placing new cameras in Iran’s nuclear services.

Observe-up talks in Iran between IAEA and Iranian officers geared toward hammering out the small print would occur “very, very quickly”, Grossi stated.

Requested if all that monitoring gear can be re-installed, Grossi replied “Sure”. When requested the place it will be re-installed, nonetheless, he stated solely that it will be at a lot of places.