Atomic Energy Organization director Mohammad Eslami and IAEA boss Rafael Grossi. LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS
Inspectors have detected enrichment levels just below the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday evening that it was in discussions with Iran after press reports of the detection of 84% enriched uranium. According to the Bloomberg news agency, citing two diplomatic sources, inspectors have detected levels of enrichment just below the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi,discusses with Iran over the results of recent verification activities“Reacted the UN body on Twitter. “He will keep the Board of Governors informed when the time comes.“. “Inspectors must determine if Iran intentionally produced the material, or if the concentration is the result of an unintentional accumulationdue to technical difficulties with the cascades of centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, writes Bloomberg.
Negotiations stalled
In January, Rafael Grossi was worried about “pathtaken by Iran’s nuclear program. “They have amassed enough nuclear material to make several nuclear weapons“, even if other steps are necessary, he had warned. The news comes as talks to revive a deal struck in 2015 to limit Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for lifting international sanctions have stalled.
Read alsoThe agony of the Iran nuclear deal
They had started in April 2021 in Vienna between Tehran and the great powers, but they have been blocked since August 2022 in a context of growing tensions. The agreement, known by the acronym of JCPOA, has been moribund since the withdrawal of the United States decided in 2018 by President Donald Trump. In the process, the Islamic Republic gradually freed itself from its commitments.
It now officially produces 60% enriched uranium at two sites (Natanz and Fordo), a threshold well above that of 3.67% set by the pact.