Iran says hopes for 'constructive' visit by IAEA chief

Iran said it hoped a visit by the head of the UN's atomic watchdog that started Monday would be "constructive", a week ahead of the resumption of talks seeking to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was greeted on arrival by the spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, state news agency IRNA reported.

He is expected to meet on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and AEOI head Mohammad Eslami, who is also one of Iran's vice presidents.

"We hope that Rafael Grossi's visit will be as constructive as the previous ones," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters.

"We have always advised the IAEA to stay on the path of technical cooperation, and to not let certain countries pursue their political orientations on behalf of the IAEA."

On Friday, the IAEA said Tehran had again increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, many times in excess of the limit laid down in the 2015 agreement.

Grossi's visit comes as Iran readies for talks with world powers in Vienna on November 29 with the aim of saving Tehran's 2015 deal with world powers, that promised it sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

On November 12, Grossi had described as "astonishing" his lack of contact with the new Iranian government of President Ebrahim Raisi.