Secretary Antony J. Blinken And International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  I am very pleased to be here with the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi.  It’s a pleasure to have you at the State Department, to have you in Washington.  The United States strongly supports the work of the IAEA.  It is critical to helping to maintain international peace and stability.  It’s obviously playing a vital role in monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities, and it plays a critical role in helping to forge cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear power.

So there is a lot to talk about today, and needless to say, Iran is a big part of the focus.  But Rafael, thank you for being here.  It’s very good to work with you.

MR GROSSI:  My pleasure to see you, Mr. Secretary, dear friend Tony.  It’s very important for me to be here.  Like the Secretary just said, we have a vast agenda in front of us ranging from important political issues like Iran or the situation in the DPRK and the other parts of the world, and also how the United States is supporting as to our work in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

So I am very happy and very eager to start our discussions today.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.  Good to have you.