Vienna - (AFP) - The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday expressed his hope to maintain a scheduled visit to Iran to try to resolve a sensitive file, after Iranian statements raised doubts about it.

Last week, Rafael Grossi reported on a meeting to be held "by the end of November" to address the issue of three facilities in which traces of uranium were discovered, despite Iran's non-declaration of nuclear activities there.

And the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, announced on Wednesday that the visit "is not currently on the agenda," according to the official IRNA news agency.

When asked about the matter, Grossi said that Iran had not informed him of the cancellation of the meeting.

He commented during a press conference on the first day of the quarterly session of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, "We hope that this technical meeting will take place. There are doubts, and I hope that (the Iranians) will clarify them."

"The situation will worsen if even a simple technical meeting cannot be held, but I do not want to speculate," the UN official added, calling for the resumption of dialogue "as soon as possible."

Islami later told IRNA that during a meeting last week between Iranian officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency, "it was decided that a delegation from the agency would go to Iran."

But he questioned the "usefulness" of the visit if the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors approved a draft resolution proposed by the United States and three European countries on Tuesday. In this context, the Iranian official said, "It is not clear whether the IAEA's visit to Iran will lead to results and be beneficial."

In the face of the lack of progress on this file that has been pending for months, the United States and the three European countries that are party to the Iranian nuclear agreement (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) submitted a draft resolution to the IAEA condemning Tehran for its lack of cooperation with the UN body, according to diplomatic sources.

An Islamist said that the four countries "drafted a draft resolution and brought documents that they realize are incorrect, and this is rejected by the Islamic Republic," according to what was quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

The Iranian official considered that "the adoption of the policy of maximum pressure and the promotion of accusations by the forces of arrogance (referring to the United States and its allies) and the Zionists, is the nature of those who are addicted to sanctions and addicted to this policy."

According to the draft resolution seen by Agence France-Presse, the Board of Governors "expresses deep concern" about this problem, which remains unresolved "because of the insufficient cooperation of Iran."

The text adds that the council "considers it necessary and urgent" for Tehran to provide without delay "technically credible explanations" about the presence of traces of uranium, as well as to ensure "access to sites and equipment" for "sample collection".

And the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, added, "We have responded to all allegations (...) of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and if their intentions (Western countries) were good and willing to continue negotiations, they would not have submitted a draft resolution" against Iran.

This issue has been a major point of divergence in talks to revive the 2015 agreement on Iran's nuclear program, which have stalled since early September.

The 2015 agreement made it possible to lift sanctions on Tehran in return for reducing its nuclear activities and ensuring the peacefulness of its program. However, the United States withdrew from it in 2018, re-imposing sanctions on Iran, which responded by gradually retracting most of its commitments.