The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday “not to be in a position to guarantee that the Iranian nuclear program is exclusively peaceful”, due to the absence of answers from Tehran on the question of undeclared sites. . In a report released ahead of next week’s Board of Governors, UN chief Rafael Grossi says he is “increasingly concerned” as “no progress has been made in resolving” the case traces of enriched uranium found in various places in the past.
He calls on the Islamic Republic “to meet its legal obligations” and to cooperate as soon as possible. This is one of the main points on which the negotiations which started in April 2021 in Vienna stumble to revive the 2015 agreement, torpedoed three years later by former American President Donald Trump. Tehran again called on Tuesday for a closure of the IAEA investigation to reach a compromise with its direct interlocutors (Germany, France, Great Britain, China and Russia), while the United States participates indirectly.
Uranium stocks 19 times higher than the authorized limit
The IAEA also deplores the decision announced in June by Iran to remove a number of surveillance cameras, citing “prejudicial consequences for the ability” to verify the civilian nature of the nuclear program. While restricting access to the UN body, Iran has continued in recent months to accumulate enriched uranium, according to estimates provided in a separate document. Stocks now exceed more than nineteen times the limit authorized by the 2015 international agreement.
Tehran thus increased its total reserves on August 21 to 3,940.9 kg, against 3,809.3 kg in mid-May, far from the ceiling of 202.8 kg to which it had committed. Iran notably increased its stock of 20% enriched material to 331.9 kg, against 238.4 kg previously. This level, which is beyond the 3.67% set by the agreement, theoretically makes it possible to produce medical isotopes, used in particular in the diagnosis of certain cancers. The Islamic Republic also has 55.6 kg against 43.1 kg of 60% enriched uranium, a threshold close to the 90% needed to develop an atomic weapon, against 33.2 kg previously.