Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 5th Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), concluded his visit to Iran on the 4th. The two sides revealed their willingness to strengthen cooperation in the joint statement following the meeting and at the press conference. Iran promised to cooperate with the IAEA’s inspection and supervision, including restoring the operation of monitoring equipment in some of the previously closed nuclear facilities.
At the invitation of the Iranian side, Grossi visited Tehran from the 3rd to the 4th and met with Iranian President Ibrahim Rahim and Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Chairman Mohammad Islami and other officials.
On March 4, Iranian President Rahim (right) met with IAEA Director General Grossi in Tehran. Published by Xinhua News Agency (photo courtesy of the Iranian President’s website)
Grossi told the media following returning to Vienna, Austria, where the IAEA headquarters is located, on the 4th that Iran agreed with the IAEA to increase the number of inspections of the Fordow nuclear facility by 50%. In addition, Iran promised to reopen the monitoring equipment in some nuclear facilities that were closed in June last year. “They will not just talk regarding it, but will take concrete action.” He did not, however, say which facilities would reopen surveillance equipment.
The IAEA Council adopted a draft resolution drafted by the United States and other countries in June last year, accusing Iran of not cooperating with the IAEA inspection. Iran responded with measures, including installing advanced centrifuges and shutting down some monitoring equipment operated by the IAEA at its nuclear facilities.
In Vienna, Grossi also clarified that the IAEA’s previous inspection of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility did not find highly enriched uranium.
On April 25, 2022, in Vienna, Austria, IAEA Director General Grossi accepted an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency at the headquarters of the IAEA.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Chen
Western media recently quoted an IAEA internal report and reported that IAEA inspectors found “particles” of enriched uranium with an abundance of regarding 84% following sampling at the Fordow nuclear facility on January 22. Uranium enriched to 90% or higher can be used to make nuclear weapons. The West accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian use.
At the joint press conference held following the talks between Grossi and Islami on the 4th, Islami explained that the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that it found “uranium particles” with an abundance of 84% instead of 84%. The enriched uranium produced by Iran does not exceed 60%.
The IAEA previously said it had found traces of uranium at three undeclared sites in Iran. Regarding this issue, Grossi said that the Iranian side has agreed to provide the IAEA with access rights and further information on the relevant locations, so as to facilitate the IAEA’s investigation of the above-mentioned undeclared locations. He said the IAEA and Iran would meet once more “soon” to hammer out specifics.
The IAEA Council is scheduled to hold a quarterly meeting on the 6th. Several Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Archyde.com that Western countries had hoped to push for a resolution at the meeting condemning Iran for not cooperating with the IAEA inspections, but the arrangement may fall through.
In July 2015, Iran reached a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Iran promised to limit its nuclear program and enrich uranium to no more than 3.67% in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the international community. In May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, and then restarted and added a series of sanctions once morest Iran. Since May 2019, Iran has gradually suspended the implementation of some terms of the agreement, but promised that the measures taken are “reversible”.
This is the scene of the political director-level meeting of the Joint Committee for the Comprehensive Agreement on the Iranian Nuclear Issue taken in Vienna, Austria on December 27, 2021. Published by Xinhua News Agency (photo courtesy of the EU Mission in Vienna)
Since April 2021, the relevant parties to the Iran nuclear agreement have held several rounds of negotiations intermittently in Vienna to discuss the issue of the United States and Iran’s resumption of compliance with the agreement, and the United States has indirectly participated in the negotiations. In recent months, tensions between Iran and Western countries have intensified, making it more difficult for the already stalled negotiations to resume compliance.
Iran announced in April 2021 that it would produce 60% enriched uranium at the Natanz nuclear facility. In November last year, it announced that the Fordow nuclear facility would also start producing this enriched uranium. The Iranian side stated that the production of enriched uranium with an abundance of 60% is mainly used to manufacture various radiopharmaceuticals. (Wang Hongbin)
