The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi met Iraq’s prime minister in Baghdad on 18 March as part of a visit that paves the way for the country to begin planning for its first commercial nuclear power plants.

“We have discussed several projects in Iraq, including building a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes,” Iraqi education minister Naim Al-Aboudi told reporters following a meeting between Grossi and prime minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.

Grossi said that a team of Iraqi experts would visit the agency’s headquarters in Vienna in a few days to hold meetings to “set out a roadmap for the Iraqi peaceful nuclear programme”.

He said after a meeting with Shia Al-Sudani that the agency would support the Iraqi peaceful nuclear programme, including exploring small modular reactors.