The logo of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is seen at their headquarters during a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

i24 News – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said in an interview that the enforced pause to the Iran nuclear talks taking place in Vienna have placed his organization in an “uncomfortable” position, reported AFP.

On Saturday, Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator Seyed Abbas Araghchi declared that the country would not take part in any further talks until the upcoming change of government, which recently-elected President Ebrahim Raisi will spearhead.

“We still have a number of questions, issues that we are trying to clarify with Iran, and we will have to wait and start anew with the new team when they are in office,” the IAEA’s director-general told AFP in Rio de Janeiro during an official visit to Brazil.

The announcement that the process would be resumed only after Raisi takes over “leaves us in a rather uncomfortable situation,” he added.

“I’m talking about the agency, I don’t know about the others, but I suppose they would rather be negotiating than waiting,” he added.

Iran and European powers have been involved in direct talks in Vienna for several months. Officially, the United States has not entered into any direct talks with the Iranians but has a diplomatic presence in an adjacent hotel — and messages are passed between the European interlocutors.

Former president Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal with Iran and current US President Joe Biden has made rejoining it one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy.