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

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Thursday 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 was visiting Tehran in an effort to restore his inspectors' access to Iran's program and answer still-outstanding questions over it, 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, even as some countries are pushing to take action against Iran at an upcoming IAEA Board of Governors' meeting.

“We know that it is indispensable to get, at this point of time, to get some concrete, tangible and visible results that will indicate that this joint work is improving (the) situation, is bringing clarification to things and in a general sense it is moving us away from conflict and ultimately war," Grossi said.

Since the deal’s collapse in 2018, 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 has been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organized weapons program in 2003.

Speaking at a news conference with Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Grossi stressed that while the IAEA and Iran continued to negotiate, time was not necessarily on their side.

“The fact that international tensions and regional tensions do exist — this shows that the space for negotiation and diplomacy is not getting bigger, it is getting smaller,” Grossi said.

Before appearing with Eslami, Grossi met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who later wrote on the social platform X that “differences can be resolved through cooperation and dialogue.” However, he warned Tehran was “NOT ready to negotiate under pressure and intimidation.”

Some politicians have even suggested Iran abandon the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, known as the NPT, and pursue the bomb. Araghchi referred to Iran as “a committed member of NPT," though Eslami in his remarks warned Iran could retaliate if challenged at the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors' meeting. Grossi acknowledged some nations were considering taking action against Iran.

“We have repeatedly said any resolution seeking to intervene in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear affairs will be definitely followed by immediate reciprocal steps and we will not allow them to (exert) this kind of pressure," Eslami said.

Journalists at the news conference, as well as Eslami, criticized Israel for its longtime sabotage and assassination campaign targeting Iran's nuclear program. Some noted Israeli officials had threatened Iran's nuclear sites as targets for potential retaliation as Iran and Israel trade direct attacks amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel's ground and air offensive in Lebanon.

“The answer is in what we do here, what we, the IAEA, and Iran can do in terms of solving the questions at hand," Grossi said, describing “a situation of tension” with Iran's nuclear program at its center.

“I am here to work with Iran, (to) try to find adequate solutions to ease tensions, to move forward. This is my target. This is my concern. And I am confident that we are going to be able to do it," he said.

But as the two men ended the news conference to shouted questions from journalists, neither had offered any sign a breakthrough was imminent.

Grossi also met Thursday for the first time with reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. He’s scheduled to visit Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear enrichment sites Friday.

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, gestures at the conclusion of his joint press conference with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami listens during his joint press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, and head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami gesture as they arrive for a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami listens during his joint press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami, right, tries to listen to a journalist at the conclusion of his joint press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks during a joint press briefing with head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

CORRECTS TO INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, right, arrives for a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as he is accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks during a joint press briefing with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi sits during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks during a joint press briefing with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, right, arrives for a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, unseen, as he is accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi, second right, and Deputy Chief of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, left, talks with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami at the conclusion of their press conference in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TURIN, Italy (AP) — There “could have been better communication” in explaining the rules involved in Jannik Sinner's doping case, ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged Thursday.

However, Gaudenzi said at the ATP Finals that anyone hinting that a “double standard” was applied because of top-ranked Sinner’s status is “unfair because the rules have been the same.”

Sinner is playing at home this week for the first time since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in two separate drug tests in March.

The case wasn't made public until August.

“I learned the day before we all learned,” Gaudenzi said in his first public comments on the case. He spoke in a round-table discussion with international reporters.

“And to be honest, I’m happy about that. I really thank the ITA (International Testing Agency) and our representatives there for intentionally keeping me and our entire team in the dark because that’s how it should be.

“It should be completely independent and that was agreed by the (parties). It was a shock, but obviously comforted by the evidence afterward.”

A decision by an independent tribunal to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September and the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to make a final ruling on the case early next year.

Sinner’s explanation was that the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.

WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years for Sinner.

“We are completely external and it’s (an) independent process,” Gaudenzi said. “I generally think has been a fair process. It was really done by the book and by the rules. Maybe there could have been better communication in explaining those rules, and that is something that I would urge every party involved to work better in the next time.”

Gaudenzi said he plans to announce on Sunday the future host of the ATP Finals. The contract with Turin expires next year and there is an option to move the event to nearby Milan at a bigger arena being built for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“We are all super happy with what’s happened here in Turin and of course we’ve been a bit lucky with the players in Italy,” Gaudenzi said. "It's not only Jannik but also Matteo Berrettini played the first edition. Nobody could foresee that.

“We knew we were going to a tennis country,” said Gaudenzi, who is Italian and a former pro player. “(Finals) should definitely go in a market that loves tennis. ... It’s obviously going to get better if you have a local hero, no doubt.”

Gaudenzi does not want to move the finals too far away geographically from the previous stop on the circuit, the Paris Masters.

“We want to try to avoid the players to fly around the world," he said, “because they do enough traveling all over throughout the year.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

United States' Taylor Fritz serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' Taylor Fritz, right, and Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' Taylor Fritz, bottom, returns the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' Taylor Fritz returns the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' Taylor Fritz, right, serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

United States' Taylor Fritz serves the ball to Australia's Alex de Minaur during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italy's Jannik Sinner holds the trophy as ATP world best player at the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Sinner was presented with the trophy for finishing the year ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball to United States' Taylor Fritz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)