VIENNA — The IAEA released a strongly-worded report Tuesday saying
monitoring tasks in Iran have been "seriously undermined" after
Tehran suspended some of the UN agency's inspections of its nuclear activities.
اضافة اعلان
The latest report comes with diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear
deal between Iran and world powers at a standstill.
In February, Iran suspended some IAEA inspections in response to the United
States' refusal to lift sanctions on Iran and also limited IAEA access to
monitoring equipment such as cameras.
Initially Iran reached a temporary agreement with the IAEA under which it
committed to preserve recordings from this equipment with a view to eventually
handing them over to the IAEA.
However, that agreement between Iran and the agency ran out on June 24 and
Iran "has failed to engage with the Agency at all on this matter for a
number of months," according to the report.
"Since 23 February 2021 the Agency's verification and monitoring
activities have been seriously undermined as a result of Iran's decision to
stop the implementation of its nuclear-related commitments" under the 2015
deal, the report added.
A diplomatic source pointed out that the equipment was normally serviced
every three months and that by now there would be a question over whether all
the systems were "still operational".
The report says that at a centrifuge component workshop at the city of
Karaj, one of its cameras was destroyed and another "severely
damaged".
Iranian state television and Tasnim news agency reported in June that a
"sabotage operation" had been thwarted at a building near Karaj
belonging to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
'Not ready to talk'
The report notes that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi had said he was
available to go to Iran to meet the government of new ultra-conservative
President Ibrahim Raisi.
However, no such visit has taken place, with one diplomatic source saying
Iran was seemingly "not ready to talk" to the IAEA.
The report says the IAEA's confidence "that it can maintain continuity
of knowledge is declining over time and has now significantly further
declined" and the situation must be "immediately rectified by
Iran".
The report added that Iran had boosted its stocks of uranium enriched above
the percentage allowed in the 2015 deal.
Under the deal, Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent,
well below the 90-percent threshold needed for use in a nuclear weapon.
In addition it was only meant to have a stockpile of 202.8 kilos in total —
equivalent to 300 kilos in a particular compound form.
However, the report estimates that Iran now has 2,441.3 kilos.
While it is a smaller overall number than at the IAEA's previous report on
Iran in May, this is because some of the lower-level enriched uranium has now
been enriched to a higher level.
The total amount now includes 84.3 kilos enriched to 20 percent, up from
62.8 kilos when the IAEA last reported in May, as well as 10 kilos enriched up
to 60 percent (up from 2.4 kilos).
'Increasing
concern'
Several rounds of talks aiming at re-establishing the 2015 deal took place
in Vienna earlier this year but they broke up on June 20 with no date set to
reconvene.
Iran warned last week that they might not resume for two to three months
while Raisi's new government establishes itself.
The 2015 deal offered Iran an easing of Western and UN
sanctions in return
for tight controls on its nuclear program, monitored by the UN.
In retaliation for Trump's withdrawal three years ago and his subsequent
imposition of sanctions, Iran in effect abandoned most of its commitments under
the deal.
But Trump's successor President Joe Biden wants to bring Washington back
into the agreement, known as the JCPOA.
Tehran is demanding all sanctions imposed or reimposed on it by the US since
2017 be lifted.
In a second report also issued on Tuesday the IAEA said there had been
almost no progress on other outstanding queries from the agency over possible
undeclared nuclear activity at several sites in Iran.
"The director general is increasingly concerned that even after some
two years the safeguards issues ... remain unresolved," it said.
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