The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Monday that the nuclear deal struck with Iran in 2015 under former President Barack Obama “exists only on paper and means nothing.”
“Nobody applies it, nobody follows it. There have been attempts to revive it here in Vienna, but unfortunately, even though they were relatively close to success, they failed for reasons I don’t know, because I was not involved in the process,” Grossi said. Complained Russian Izvestia newspaper.
The 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Submitted The deal was ratified by Congress. Critics of the deal have accused Iran of cheating from the start. Obtained In 2018, documents were produced showing that the Iranian government secretly violated its nuclear non-proliferation obligations under the nuclear deal.
Former President Donald Trump Withdrew President Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in May 2018, saying “it is clear that under the current corrupt structure of the agreement, we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb.”
Iran is still nominally bound by the agreement with the European countries that signed the JCPOA, but since President Trump withdrew from it, and probably for quite some time before that, Iran has treated the agreement like a dead letter.
Even before the US withdrawal, Iran Complained Iran did not get the huge economic benefits it had expected when international sanctions were lifted under the agreement. After U.S. sanctions were reimposed, the Iranian regime blamed the U.S. for all of its economic problems and received no concessions from Europe. Enough To revive the trade.
Grossi said: Izvestia He is unhappy with the negotiations with Iran. I was blocked It has barred IAEA inspectors from examining key facilities and refused to hand over documents requested by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
“We continue to tell our Iranian colleagues that they must provide at least minimum access to the agency so that they can return to version 2 of the nuclear deal and other agreements,” Grossi said.
“To be honest, there are problems. We will work with Iran, I don’t deny it. This is important for testing. My Iranian colleagues often say that Iran is the most tested country in the world. That’s true, and there are good reasons for that. But it’s not enough,” he said.
Grossi has spent the past few years trying to save the crumbling nuclear deal, frequently criticizing Iran’s intransigence but refraining from saying or doing anything that could anger Tehran into completely halting cooperation with the U.N. body he leads.
Before the IAEA Director General, European signatories to the JCPOA had run out of patience with Tehran. In early June, the IAEA Board of Governors Voted The condemnation of Iran for obstructing nuclear inspectors was passed by a vote of 20 to 2, with only Russia and China voting no. Grossi spoke out against such drastic action, So I did The Biden administration still dreams of reviving the moribund JCPOA.
Saturday, France, Germany, UK issued The joint statement accused Iran of aggressively enriching uranium to near-weapon levels and “hollowing out the JCPOA.” Iran has defiantly announced plans to further enrich uranium in response to the IAEA’s criticism.
The joint statement noted that Iran was “operating dozens of additional advanced centrifuges at its Natanz enrichment facility” and announced that it would install thousands more centrifuges at both the Fordow and Natanz facilities.
“This decision is a further escalation of Iran’s nuclear program, which carries significant proliferation risks,” the statement said, noting that Iran is in violation of not only the JCPOA but also the 1970 nuclear deal. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran is also a signatory to the NPT.
Grossi said: Izvestia He hopes that Russia will use its influence to “keep Iran’s plans within a predictable and peaceful framework,” which likely means Russia will pressure Iran to cooperate with the IAEA.
Grossi acknowledged that for the time being, Iran has not informed the agency of any plans to operate more powerful uranium centrifuges.
“We know that Iran is considering a number of activities that would require building new facilities, setting up new cascades, etc.,” he said. “Iran should inform us of those changes.”
