Iran could be forced to provide explanations for traces of uranium found at three undeclared sites. The United States, Britain, France and Germany want the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to adopt a resolution. This decision must qualify this obligation for Tehran as “essential and urgent”.
A draft resolution
The draft resolution targeting Iran reached other IAEA countries. A quarterly meeting is scheduled to begin this Wednesday. This also comes after the IAEA released a multi-year investigation report on uranium traces.
Iran, following the IAEA board meeting, agrees to hold a meeting in Tehran. This issue is a barrier to broader talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Indeed, Tehran is demanding an end to the investigation in these talks.
IAEA Board of Governors calls for immediate action by Iran In particular, Theheran must provide all information and responses required by the agency. The country will also need to provide access to locations and materials for sample collection.
An agreement to be renegotiated
Finally, the IAEA regrets the lack of substantial cooperation from Iran. The Agency and its Director General, Rafael Grossi, seem “seriously concerned that there has still been no progress”. In June, in a similar resolution, China and Russia announced their opposition to this decision.
At the June board meeting, Iran took offense at the IAEA resolutions. Indeed, Tehran removed, in retaliation, surveillance cameras of the agency. The 2015 agreement then seemed largely thwarted.
Since then, Iran has been installing hundreds of more advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium. This ability to enrich uranium exceeds the limits of the 2015 agreement. This non-compliance with the agreement began in 2019 following the 2018 U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.
