The nuclear alarm sounded in Vienna
Grossi: Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles continue to grow
The nuclear alarm sounded in Vienna as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s quarterly meeting began on March 4th in Vienna, Austria’s capital. Rafael Grossi, the agency’s Director General, reported an increase in Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles and criticized Tehran’s approach in reducing cooperation with the agency. In his report to the agency’s Board of Governors, Grossi stated that Iran’s enriched uranium reserves continue to increase, although the rate of uranium enrichment at 60% concentration has slowed.
Previously, the Board of Governors had asked Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency in investigating uranium particles found at undisclosed sites and demanded immediate and necessary explanations from Iran. Since then, although the number of undisclosed sites under investigation has decreased from three to two, the list of the agency’s issues with Iran has grown. Iran has not fully complied with the agreement to reinstall the agency’s cameras at certain sites and blocked the entry of some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors in September.
Director General Rafael Grossi said, ‘I deeply regret that Iran has not yet changed its decision to prevent the entry of experienced and expert inspectors of the agency.’ He noted in his report that three years after Tehran’s decision to halt the implementation of the Additional Protocol, no progress has been made in resolving the remaining issues.
The Iranian government has not provided credible technical explanations to the agency regarding the presence of human-origin uranium particles in Varamin and Turquoiseabad, and the agency remains unaware of the current locations of nuclear materials or contaminated equipment. Tehran has also halted the agency’s access to surveillance camera data at nuclear sites and the issuance of permits for some inspectors.
The United States has asked Iran to dilute all its near-weapons-grade uranium. It is unclear why Iran reduced these materials while consistently denying efforts to build nuclear weapons and asserting its right to enrich to high levels for civilian purposes. Western powers argue that there is no civilian justification for such high levels of enrichment.
On Wednesday, the United States issued a statement condemning many of Tehran’s recent nuclear actions, asking Iran to dilute all uranium enriched up to 60% and stating, ‘We continue to have serious concerns about the enriched uranium stockpiles that Iran continues to maintain.’
On the fifth of December, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Iran, by increasing the speed of uranium enrichment at high levels, now possesses enough 60% enriched uranium that, if further enriched, would be sufficient to build three atomic bombs.
In a statement regarding Iran at the quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, composed of 35 countries, the United States said Iran must reduce all its 60% stockpiles and not just a portion of them, and must completely halt all production of uranium enriched to 60%. The statement added that today no other country produces uranium enriched to 60% for the purposes Iran claims, and Iran’s actions contradict the behavior of all other non-nuclear states party to the NPT, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The United States condemned various moves by Iran, and the International Atomic Energy Agency also criticized many of them, such as blocking some of the agency’s most experienced and expert inspectors last year.
The West’s restraint from confronting Iran at the agency meeting
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on March 4th, citing Western diplomats who wished to remain anonymous, that given the Middle East conflicts, the United States does not want to escalate diplomatic tensions with Tehran by passing another resolution against the Iranian government in the Board of Governors.
Diplomats stated that passing a resolution could send the wrong message, leading to dangerous miscalculations. They added that the region is in an unstable situation, with no ceasefire or solution for Gaza, no prospect for a nuclear agreement, and the United States facing a presidential election.
Diplomats further told Reuters that three European countries—France, the UK, and Germany—coordinated with the US to draft a resolution and are insisting on its adoption. These sources added that Washington opposes taking a hard stance against Iran’s nuclear program, even though Iranian government officials have repeatedly claimed that the country’s nuclear program is peaceful and not aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.
Rafael Grossi previously warned that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles have reached 27 times the limit set in the nuclear agreement with global powers known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He emphasized that only through constructive and meaningful engagement can all these concerns be addressed and once again urged Iran to cooperate fully and unambiguously with the agency.
Diplomats said that with the ongoing Israeli military attacks on Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7th attacks and escalating tensions across the Middle East, the United States does not want to risk escalating diplomatic tensions with Iran by issuing a resolution against Tehran at the International Atomic Energy Agency. In fact, any action that could send wrong signals and subsequently lead to miscalculations is very dangerous.
However, diplomats have said that Washington has opposed seeking any solution against Iran for months, which may partly be due to the upcoming US presidential elections in November.
The United States said that Iran should cooperate with the agency, including providing access for environmental sampling, and should now begin doing so.
Meanwhile, if Iran does not do this, the United States wants Director General Rafael Grossi to provide a comprehensive report on Iran’s nuclear activities that goes far beyond his regular quarterly reports.
The United States of America and three other European powers strongly criticized Iran over these issues and other matters, including Iran’s increasing enriched uranium stockpiles, which, if further enriched, would be sufficient for several nuclear bombs. Iran, as always, claimed that it has no such intention.