Iran Accepts To Increase Nuclear Site Inspections

According to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has promised to speed up inspections and reconnect security cameras at multiple nuclear sites.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, praised “a substantial improvement” in his conversations with the Iranian leadership. When he learned of uranium particles that had been enriched to levels close to those used in weapons, Grossi was in Tehran to speak with Iranian officials.

Grossi stated, “We had decided that they will be operational again” after recalling there had been “a drop in monitoring operations linked to cams and surveillance systems” upon his return to Vienna.

In regard to understanding continuity, “this is extremely, very significant,” he said, particularly in the light of the prospect of the rebirth of JCPOA.

“We had placed a tourniquet on the bleeding of knowledge and the discontinuity of information we had,” he told journalists on Saturday afternoon. “We are now able to start working again, recreating these benchmarks of information.”

After a technical discussion, he stated that the safeguards should be in effect “very soon,” but no specific timeframes were given in a joint statement with the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI).

Safety Checks

The Vienna-based IAEA sought increased cooperation from Iran over its nuclear activities during Grossi’s two-day visit.

Grossi visited President Ebrahim Raisi during his multiple interactions with Iranian government representatives. Raisi agreed that “collaboration is a two-way road… (and) can remain based on respecting the agency’s autonomy and the interests of the Iranian country,” as Mohammad Jamshidi, the political deputy of Iran’s presidency, stated.

The discussion with Raisi was intended to “reboot the dialogue” on Iran’s nuclear development and to “repair the relations at the top level,” a diplomatic source had previously told AFP.

Based on a confidential IAEA study seen by AFP this week, uranium particles with an enrichment level of up to 83.7 percent — just under the 90 percent required to make an atomic weapon — had been found at Iran’s subterranean Fordo plant, located some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Tehran.

Grossi claimed that the plant required further IAEA inspections and that Iran had consented to “50 percent more inspection” there.

Iran claims it has never attempted to enrich uranium above a purity of 60% and denies having any desire to obtain nuclear weapons.

But “unintended fluctuations… may have happened,” according to the Iranian authorities, during the enrichment procedure.

Once Iran significantly altered a link between two clusters of centrifuges used to develop nuclear weapons without notifying the IAEA, the modification was discovered.

‘Obligations’

Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s top nuclear official, urged all signatories to the 2015 agreement to fulfill their “commitments” on Saturday.

He told reporters, “Three European and some other nations are solely focusing on Iran’s JCPOA duties. “They must uphold their commitments as well,”

He continued, “We reached an agreement (with Grossi) to establish our collaboration within the context of the protections.”

If a settlement is achieved, “the relevant agencies will determine and the Iranian atomic agency will abide by that decision, he stated.

Iran never forgoes its strategic interests in favor of anything else, according to Eslami.

The US, along with Britain, France, Germany, and the IAEA board of governors, will determine whether to present a draft resolution denouncing Iran to the IAEA board of governors, which meets next week in Vienna, based on the results of Grossi’s visit.

According to the official news agency IRNA, Grossi also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday.

According to the diplomatic official, during his trip he had hoped to have “better access to the (Fordo) site, more checks”.