International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Saturday March 4 that he hoped the “constructive discussions” he was pursuing with Iran would pave the way for “important agreements” on the Iranian nuclear issue. “Discussions are continuing in an atmosphere of work, frankness and cooperation,” Rafael Grossi said at midday.
At the end of the other meetings scheduled for the day, “I will have a better judgment” on the results of the discussions, he added during a press conference with Mohammad Eslami, the director of the Organization. Iranian Atomic Energy Company (OIEA). But, without delay, the head of the UN agency said he was convinced that the “constructive discussions” he had already had would “open the way to important agreements”.
He did not specify what these advances might be, but the declared objective of this visit was to “relaunch the dialogue” with a view to a possible resumption of negotiations on the agreement concluded in 2015 in Vienna between Tehran and the major powers to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against the country.
This agreement, known by the acronym of JCPOA, has been moribund since the withdrawal of the United States decided in 2018 by President Donald Trump and the Islamic Republic has gradually freed itself from its commitments. After his meeting with Rafael Grossi, Mohammad Eslami assured that the Iranian authorities would “continue to work” with the IAEA, while calling on the other parties, in particular the three European countries (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) to “respect their obligations” under the JCPOA.
After Mohammad Eslemi, Rafael Grossi met at midday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Habdollian, who recently asserted that “the window” to relaunch the JCPOA was “open” but would “not remain so”. always “.
A possible meeting of Rafael Grossi with President Ebrahim Raisi was mentioned by diplomatic sources in Vienna before the visit, but it was not confirmed in Tehran. Rafael Grossi was to take stock of his visit at a press conference on his return to Vienna at the end of the day.
Rafael Grossi is then due to present the results at an IAEA board of governors scheduled for next week. Depending on the progress made, Washington, London, Berlin and Paris will decide whether or not to submit a motion for a resolution blaming Tehran for recent developments in its nuclear program.
Their concerns were recently heightened by a confidential IAEA report that uranium particles enriched to 83.7%, just under the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb, were recently detected in the Fordo underground factory, a hundred kilometers south of the capital Tehran.
Iran, which denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons, has justified itself by citing “involuntary fluctuations” during the enrichment process and by assuring “not to have made any attempt to enrich beyond 60%,” as Mohammad Eslami repeated on Saturday. France nevertheless judged Thursday that it was “an unprecedented and extremely serious development”.
Rafael Grossi did not specify whether he had obtained enhanced access to the Fordo site and an increase in the number of IAEA inspections permitted by the Iranian government.
He further indicated that discussions were continuing to resolve the dispute with Tehran over the discovery last year of traces of enriched uranium at three undeclared sites. Iran was the subject of a call to order at the last IAEA meeting, in November 2022, for its lack of cooperation on this issue.
Moreover, Westerners are concerned that Iran is enriching ever more at high levels, far from the limit set by the agreement at 3.67%: it thus has 434.7 kg of uranium at 20 % (compared to 386.4 kg previously) and from 87.5 kg to 60% (compared to 62.3 kg).
