IAEA Resolution Condemns Iran for Not Cooperating With Nuclear Inspectors

The logo of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at its headquarters in Vienna on May 24, 2021. Lisi Niesner/Reuters

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has condemned Iran for the second time in five months for failing to cooperate fully with the agency’s inspectors monitoring its nuclear program.

The board of governors of the IAEA’s nuclear watchdog, meeting in Vienna, also called on the Iranian regime to explain why traces of uranium had been found at two locations that Tehran failed to declare as nuclear sites.

The resolution, which The Associated Press has seen, was tabled by France, Germany, and Britain.

Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, that the resolution would “complicate matters,” according to the Iranian foreign ministry’s Telegram channel.

Earlier this month, the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, visited Tehran and two of Iran’s nuclear sites, and on Nov. 20, he said Iran had taken “concrete steps” in the “right direction” regarding its nuclear program.

However, in a quarterly report published on Nov. 19, the IAEA said the Iranian regime had amassed a stockpile of enriched uranium that was more than 32 times the limit set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.

Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated on Oct. 26 to be 6,604.4 kilograms, up by 852.6 kilograms since the last quarterly report in August.

In recent years, Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium up to 60 percent purity, not far short of the 90 percent level required to be weapons-grade.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to put “maximum pressure” on the Iranian regime when he returns to the White House in January.

In his first term in office, Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and imposed tough economic sanctions.

The IAEA resolution, approved on Nov. 21, requires the agency to produce a “comprehensive and updated assessment” of Iran’s nuclear activities, which could eventually trigger a referral to the U.N. Security Council to consider more sanctions on Tehran.

In a joint statement to the board of governors issued on behalf of the UK, United States, France, and Germany, Britain’s ambassador to the IAEA, Corinne Kitsell, said the outstanding issues were central to understanding the nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

“Regrettably and despite countless opportunities over many years, Iran has failed to provide the technically credible information needed to resolve them,” she said.

‘Deeply Concerned’

“We are deeply concerned that as a result of these outstanding issues, the agency is unable to assure us that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” Kitsell said.

In a joint statement issued after the approval of the resolution, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Iranian foreign ministry condemned the resolution, stating that Mohammed Eslami, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, had issued orders to launch new and advanced centrifuges, powerful machines that spin rapidly to enrich uranium.

The IAEA said traces of processed uranium have been found at two locations near Tehran—Varamin and Turquzabad—and the resolution demanded that Tehran provide “technically credible explanations” for the presence of the uranium particles.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv, Israel, Apr. 30, 2018. Reuters/Amir Cohen

At the United Nations in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed the existence of the Turquzabad site and said it was a clandestine atomic warehouse hidden inside what he described as “an innocent‑looking compound on Maher Alley, near a rug‑cleaning operation.”

Iran issued a denial, but IAEA inspectors later found uranium particles at Turquzabad.

Iran Denies Nuclear Weapons Program

Tehran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and that it has declared all of the nuclear material, activities, and locations required under an agreement it has with the IAEA.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of opposition groups, has a network of whistleblowers in Iran who have provided information over the years about the regime’s nuclear program.

Maryam Rajavi, the organization’s leader, welcomed the resolution and said it was “a clear testament to the accuracy and legitimacy of the Iranian Resistance’s stance on the objectives and deceptions of the mullahs’ regime in the nuclear field.”

“The regime’s tricks and its intensified, all-out efforts to prevent the resolution’s adoption ultimately proved futile,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.