International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi told European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday that Iran continues to enrich uranium to levels well above what is needed for commercial use. .
Grossi said Iran’s uranium enrichment has slowed slightly since the end of 2023, but Iran’s centrifuges are still producing about 7 kilograms of 60% pure uranium per month.
60% purity is much higher than the purity required for peaceful uses, but just below the “weapon grade” threshold. No other country on earth has produced 60 percent pure uranium for purposes other than developing nuclear weapons.
According to the IAEA, Iran produced about 3 kilograms of 60% uranium from June to November 2023, before jumping to 9 kilograms in the final months of 2023, just as Iran It was a time when one-third of the population was expelled.
Grossi is rage When the Iranians “de-designated” his agency’s most experienced inspectors. He said this was an unprecedented and poorly explained action that dealt a “very serious blow” to the IAEA’s ability to conduct meaningful inspections.
In January 2023, one of the IAEA’s most experienced inspectors detected a significant increase in the purity of the enrichment, which Iran had not properly reported. The surge brought some of Iran’s uranium to an all-time high of 83.7 percent. Iran “de-designated” Russian inspectors after noticing this spike, just before kicking out other inspectors in November.
grossi complained In January 2024, it was announced that Iran was holding the IAEA “hostage” in a political dispute with the United States and other Western countries.
“It’s a very frustrating situation. We will continue to operate there at a bare minimum. They are limiting cooperation in a very unprecedented way,” he said.
grossi Said On Monday, after talks in Brussels, he said Iran’s habit of rapidly ramping up enrichment and then slowing it down does not hide the underlying “trend to a constant increase in highly enriched uranium stocks.”
“There’s some worrying rhetoric. You may have heard senior Iranian officials say recently that they have all the elements of a nuclear weapon,” Grossi said, adding that Iranian officials have no intention of doing so. He hinted that he was boasting that he would be able to manufacture a nuclear bomb as soon as the IAEA itself Estimation In November, Iran announced it had enough highly enriched uranium to build “several” nuclear weapons.
“We seem to be estranged,” Grossi said of relations with the Iranians.
“I think it’s very complicated to understand this logic, because Iran claims that it doesn’t get incentives from the West, but it should work with us,” he said. “It should not be influenced by financial or other incentives.”
Grossi said he hoped to visit Tehran at some point to mend relations with Iranian officials after planning a visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Iran, the Middle East and Ukraine.
“Russia has a role to play with Iran. Up until now, it has played a role as a country in the JCPOA, but in the current situation where the JCPOA has almost collapsed, something needs to fill the void.” said Grossi.
JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) is the official name of the nuclear deal with Iran signed by former President Barack Obama and his successor Donald Trump. withdrew It was scrapped in 2018 after the deal’s “declined and rotten structure” said it would not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. President Trump said it was important to withdraw from the nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions against Iran to prevent Iran from engaging in other malign activities such as supporting terrorism.
