"Our relationship with Iran is a permanent one, it's not predicated on the JCPOA or other things. It's a permanent relationship based on their membership on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which requires all countries in the world to have a system of inspections," he told Euronews.
"Of course, there are ups and downs as in any relationship, and we are always making every possible effort to keep it at a good level. And this has been my message all along", Grossi added.
The director called on Tehran to allow the agency to replace the monitoring and surveillance equipment installed in the country's nuclear sites.
"I think diplomacy cannot fail. We have to make sure that every element is there and it is possible to have a sort of a modus vivendi," he said.
Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA known as the P4+1 have held six rounds of talks so far with no results. The Western powers made excessive demands during the talks and the talks were postponed at the end of the previous Iranian administration under Rouhani until the formation of the new government in Iran under President Ebrahim Raeisi.
The new Iranian administration has vowed that it will return to the Vienna talks if they are result-oriented and can yield tangible results for Iran in terms of the removal of the sanctions and abidance of the parties by the JCPOA provisions.
RHM/PR