The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran and the US are close to agreeing on a nuclear framework, which would give both parties time to address outstanding issues, Al Jazeera reports.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says the organisation is in contact with both sides but is not directly involved in talks.

“Our sense is that they seem to be pretty close to agreeing on what I would describe more with regards to the nuclear … to sort of a framework, organisational structure to give themselves time to look into the different problems,” he states.

Grossi has made the comments following an emergency meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors in Vienna.

The meeting has been requested by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia in response to Iran attacking the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Power Plant last month — an incident that Grossi said was “unacceptable”.