It is a severe warning addressed to Iran, while the rescue of the agreement supposed to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons is at an impasse. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted Wednesday, June 8, in Vienna, a resolution condemning Tehran’s lack of cooperation in nuclear matters. This text, examined at the initiative of the United States and the Europeans, criticizes in particular the Iranian authorities for not having provided explanations concerning the presence of traces of uranium on three undeclared sites. Thirty states on the council voted for the resolution. Russia and China opposed it. India, Pakistan and Libya abstained.
Conversely, the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom welcomed the adoption of the text, which has strong symbolic significance. “The vote on this resolution by an overwhelming majority by the IAEA Board of Governors today sends a clear message to Iran about the need for it to meet its safeguards obligations.”emphasize the four Western countries, with reference to the commitments made by Tehran in the framework of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
This resolution aims to put pressure on Tehran, while the negotiations started almost a year ago to relaunch the JCPoA, the agreement on the country’s nuclear activities, are running empty to date. US President Joe Biden had nevertheless made it one of his diplomatic priorities, in order to reverse the unilateral withdrawal decided by his predecessor, Donald Trump, in 2018, to torpedo the agreement.
Lapse risk
To that end, the Biden administration has said it is ready to lift many of the sanctions imposed on Iran because of its nuclear activities, in exchange for its return to the commitments made in 2015. A compromise seemed imminent at the start of the process. year, but indirect discussions between Wahington and Tehran have since stalled. The United States refuses, in particular, to reduce the sanctions imposed on the guards of the revolution, to the great displeasure of Iran.
Negotiations also suffered from the war in Ukraine, Moscow having for a time demanded that it obtain broad derogations from the massive sanctions taken by the West in response to the invasion of the neighboring country decided by Vladimir Putin, so that these measures do not hinder not its economic cooperation with Iran. An arrangement on this point had to be negotiated.
In the meantime, Tehran continues, according to the West, with the support of the IAEA report, the enrichment of increasingly large quantities of uranium, a prerequisite for the manufacture of a bomb. According to experts, the country would already enrich enough uranium to move on to making a bomb, if it so decided.
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