the IAEA increasingly “worried” about Tehran’s escalation

Although the Islamic Republic denies wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, its stocks of enriched uranium have increased and exceed the limit authorized by the 2015 international agreement by more than 27 times.

An ever more difficult task. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN body responsible for verifying the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, has announced its “growing concerns” in reports consulted Monday February 26 by AFP. A week before a meeting of the Board of Governors at the Vienna headquarters, its director general, Rafael Grossi, once again calls on Tehran to “cooperate fully”, while relations between the two parties continue to deteriorate.

He mentions in these still confidential documents “public statements in Iran about technical capabilities for producing nuclear weapons, heightening concerns about accuracy” reports from Tehran. The Islamic Republic denies wanting to acquire the bomb. But at the same time, Iran continues its escalation and now has enough material to make several atomic bombs.

Restricted cooperation “in an unprecedented way”

According to the IAEA’s progress report, Iran’s stocks of enriched uranium amounted to 5,525.5 kg as of February 10 (compared to 4,486.8 kg at the end of October). That is, more than 27 times the limit authorized by the 2015 international agreement governing Tehran’s atomic activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions. Iran gradually freed itself from the commitments made within the framework of this pact, in reaction to the withdrawal of the United States decided in 2018 by the then president, Donald Trump. Discussions in Vienna to revive it failed in the summer of 2022.

Westerners prefer to calm things down, anxious to avoid a conflagration in the Middle East. No resolution has been presented since November 2022, even though limits have regularly been crossed. On Monday, the United States said “extremely concerned by the continued expansion of Iran’s nuclear program, without any credible civilian justification”. Under these conditions, the IAEA appears powerless. Iran has restricted “in an unprecedented way” his cooperation, recently deplored Raphaël Grossi, who denounces a “held ostage”.

Faced with these criticisms, the Iranian government announced last week that it had invited Rafael Grossi to come to Tehran in May, for an international conference on energy.