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| Iranian President Hassan Rohany attended a state council meeting in Tehran on the 3rd (local time) and announced that there will be no further negotiations over the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA, comprehensive joint action plan) signed with the United States. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
Iran, which is in conflict with the United States over compliance with the Iranian Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA, Comprehensive Joint Action Plan), officially announced restrictions on inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the 23rd (local time).
Among them, an IAEA report found that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at the level before the nuclear agreement, and nuclear material may have existed in unreported areas.
According to Reuters and AFP News, the Iranian government announced that it would restrict IAEA inspections from that day.
Iran previously declared that it would restrict inspections by the IAEA from the 23rd unless the United States and other parties to the nuclear agreement lift sanctions against Iran by the 21st.
Details of the restrictions have not been given, but Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Jarif said earlier that the IAEA would not allow access to surveillance cameras installed at nuclear facilities.
When the news came, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a briefing that Iran was out of compliance with the nuclear agreement, urged Iran to cooperate with the IAEA.
The United States then said it would work closely with the IAEA to discuss appropriate measures to support negotiations with Iran.
“We are deeply sorry” in a statement by Britain, France and Germany, which are European parties to the nuclear agreement, and emphasized that Iran ceases or reverses any measures that reduce transparency and urges the IAEA to cooperate fully and in a timely manner.
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| IAEA Secretary-General Rafael Grosi is holding a meeting with Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Zarif in Tehran on the 21st (local time). © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
Ahead of the restrictions on nuclear inspection, IAEA Secretary-General Rafael Grossie agreed on the 21st to continue the necessary IAEA inspections in negotiations with Iran.
Iran has decided to collect video from surveillance cameras for three months and allow the IAEA to access it if sanctions against Iran are lifted.
Secretary-General Grossey explained to the negotiations with Iran at a think tank event on the US nuclear threat on the 23rd that “we can continue to monitor and register all major activities taking place during this period.”
“We will know exactly what has happened, how many elements have been manipulated, and how much material has been processed, processed, or concentrated,” he stressed that essential surveillance activities continue.
Meanwhile, according to an IAEA report obtained by Reuters that day, as of the 16th, Iran has enriched 17.6 kg of uranium to a high concentration of 20%, and uranium in the next step has been enriched by 2 to 5%.
Iran must maintain its uranium enrichment concentration below 3.67% under the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Iran’s uranium-enriched concentration reached 20% before the nuclear deal, and weapon-producing concentrations were 90%.
A high-ranking diplomat told Reuters that “Iran produces 15 kg of 20% enriched uranium per month.”
The total stockpile of enriched uranium was 2967.8 kg, which was found to be 14 times the allowable level of 202.8 kg for nuclear consensus.
In a separate report, the IAEA said in a separate report that it is possible that there may have been nuclear material in Turkuzabad, Tehran, an unreported area, and said it is “seriously concerned.”
AFP cited sources and reported that there was no evidence of processing uranium at the site, but it was likely used for uranium storage at the end of 2018.
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| The Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. © AFP=News1 |
Iran’s nuclear agreement was signed in July 2015 by five permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, China, Russia, Britain, France) and Germany, and Iran was inspected by the IAEA to restrict nuclear development. The main point is to lift the sanctions against it.
In May 2018, when the then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally abolished the nuclear agreement and resumed sanctions against Iran, Iran also continued to abandon the nuclear agreement.
President Biden said that economic sanctions can be lifted only if Iran adheres to the existing agreement, but Iran is calling for the United States to return without conditions.