VIENNA/TEHRAN — The UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached a deal with Iran for the overdue servicing of monitoring equipment, creating room for broader diplomatic efforts, the agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi said on Sunday.

Returning from a trip to Tehran during which the agreement was announced, Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport the agreement was intended to “give space for diplomacy ... so that wider solutions can be reached”.

"This has always been seen, for me at least, as a stopgap, as a measure to allow time for diplomacy," IAEA chief Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport after returning from talks in Iran.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog hailed the agreement struck with Iran on Sunday over access to surveillance equipment at Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran and the IAEA had earlier announced that they had agreed to allow inspectors to service the agency's surveillance equipment as Tehran has restricted access since earlier this year.

"IAEA's inspectors are permitted to service the identified equipment and replace their storage media, which will be kept under the joint IAEA and (Iran's) AEOI seals in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The way and the timing are agreed by the two sides," they had said in a joint statement.

Grossi traveled to Iran on Saturday for talks, days after the IAEA had criticized Tehran in a report for a lack of cooperation. On Sunday, Grossi met the chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami.

"The two sides decided to maintain their mutual interactions and meetings at relevant levels," the statement said, adding Grossi planned another visit to Tehran "in the near future".

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday that Tehran has had "very good" talks with Rafael Grossi, the director general of IAEA.

The talks between Grossi and Eslami took place during the visit of the IAEA chief to Tehran Sunday. They discussed a range of sticking issues, Khatibzadeh said, noting that both sides maintained a growing understanding and trust over the past years.

However, the spokesman cautioned that his country would respond appropriately if some parties attempted to tamper with the technical relations between Iran and the IAEA. He did not elaborate.

The relations with the UN nuclear watchdog continues to be "normal and technical as long as the Agency distances itself from politicization and discrimination," Khatibzadeh said, asserting that his country is keen on these relations.

He added that both sides agreed Sunday that the IAEA's inspectors would service the surveillance cameras inside the Iranian atomic facilities and replace the storage cards that became full. — Agencies