Iran's nuclear chief says the Islamic Republic has not banned international oversight of its nuclear program, noting that 130 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are allowed to conduct inspections in the country.

According to The Iran Project,Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Wednesday that IAEA inspections are being carried out within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement.

"This is not a political issue at all and we have proven this repeatedly in the process of our cooperation with the agency," he added.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit Iran next week to meet with Eslami and other officials to resolve some of the  lingering Safeguards issues the UN nuclear watchdog has with Iran.

Four locations inside Iran have been the subject of dispute, two of which have already been resolved, the nuclear chief explained.

Eslami expressed confidence that the remaining ambiguities will be addressed and that Iran can further strengthen its relations with the IAEA within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

During his trip to Iran, Grossi will  take part in a nuclear energy conference in the central city of Esfahan.

Tensions have grown between Iran and the IAEA since then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed tough economic sanctions on the country.

Since then, Iran has scaled back its commitments under the deal, officially called the JCPOA, ramping up its uranium enrichment and restricting the IAEA's inspections of its nuclear sites in line with a parliamentary law adopted in 2020.