Head of UN’s nuclear watchdog visits Iran as Mideast wars and Trump’s return raise worries

Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is warning that the “space for negotiation and diplomacy … is getting smaller” over Iran’s advancing atomic program as wars in the Mideast rage on and as President Donald Trump will return to the White House. Rafael Mariano Grossi of the IAEA is visiting Tehran on Thursday in an effort to restore his inspectors’ access to Iran’s program and answer still-outstanding questions, as he has on previous trips with limited success since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Islamic Republic’s nuclear deal with world powers. However, the remarks from both Grossi and his Iranian counterpart at a news conference suggested sizeable gaps still exist.