Grossi said a March 2023 deal with Iran was “still valid” but required more “substance” ISFAHAN: UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi, visiting Iran on Tuesday, urged the country to adopt “concrete” measures to bolster cooperation on its nuclear program and address the international community’s concerns. At a news conference in the city of Isfahan, Grossi said he had proposed in talks with Iranian officials that they “focus on the very concrete, very practical and tangible measures that can be implemented in order to accelerate” cooperation. The International Atomic Energy Agency director-general held talks with senior Iranian officials including Atomic Energy Organization’s head Mohammad Eslami. Grossi insisted on the need to “settle differences” on the nuclear issue while the Middle East was going through “difficult times,” particularly with the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Sometimes, political conditions pose obstacles to full-fledged cooperation” between Iran and the international community, he said. To overcome these obstacles, he said, “we need to come up with concrete steps that are going to be helpful in bringing us closer to these solutions that we all need.” Grossi said a March 2023 deal with Iran was “still valid” but required more “substance.” The agreement was reached during Grossi’s last visit to Iran and outlined basic cooperation measures including on safeguards and monitoring. The IAEA chief said, however, that there had been a “slowdown” in the agreement’s implementation including the number of inspections being reduced and the accreditation of a group of IAEA experts being withdrawn by Iran. Iran suspended its compliance with caps on nuclear activities set by a landmark 2015 deal with major powers a year after the US in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sweeping sanctions. “We have this legal right to reduce our commitments when the other parties do not adhere to their obligations,” Eslami said during the joint news conference. Tensions between Iran and the IAEA have repeatedly flared since the deal fell apart, and EU-mediated efforts have so far failed both to bring Washington back on board and to get Tehran to again comply with the terms of the accord. The agency has in recent months criticized Iran for a lack of cooperation on issues including the expansion of its nuclear work, the barring of inspectors and deactivating the agency’s monitoring devices at its nuclear facilities.