SpaceWar.com reports: “UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi met the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Mohammad Eslami, on Thursday ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iranian and US delegations are to gather in Rome on Saturday for a second round of Omani-mediated negotiations, a week after the longtime foes held their highest-level talks since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.

There were no immediate details on Grossi’s meeting with Eslami, but Iran’s reformist Shargh newspaper described his visit as ‘strategically significant at the current juncture’.

On Wednesday, Grossi met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the first round of talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday.

Araghchi said he had had a ‘useful’ meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief.

‘The IAEA can play a crucial role in peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear file in the coming months,’ he said…”