International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Saturday (March 4) hailed “constructive talks” with Iran, hoping they pave the way for “important agreements” on the nuclear issue. “Discussions are continuing in an atmosphere of work, candor and cooperation,” Grossi said at a midday press conference.
At the end of the other meetings scheduled for Saturday, “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 Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEIO). After Mr. Aslemi, Mr. Grossi met at midday with the head of Iranian diplomacy Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who recently asserted that “the window” to revive the Iranian nuclear agreement was “open” but that she would not always “remain so”.
A possible meeting of Mr. Grossi with the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, was mentioned, but it was not confirmed in Tehran. Mr. Grossi was to report on his visit at a press conference upon his return to Vienna at the end of the day.
A moribund agreement since 2018
During this press conference, the head of the IAEA did not specify what these advances could be, but the declared objective of this visit was to “relaunch the dialogue” in view of a possible resumption of negotiations on the agreement reached 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 (in English Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPoA) has been moribund since the withdrawal of the United States decided in 2018 by President Donald Trump and since the Islamic Republic has gradually freed itself from its commitments.
After his meeting with Mr. Grossi, Mr. Eslami assured that the Iranian authorities would “continue to work” with the IAEA, while calling on other parties, including the three European countries (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) to “meet their obligations” under the JCPoA.
Western concerns
Mr. Grossi must then 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 reinforced by a confidential IAEA report, according to which particles of uranium enriched to 83.7%, slightly less than the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb, were recently detected in the Fordo underground factory, a hundred kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.
Mr. Grossi did not say whether he had obtained enhanced access to the Fordo site and an increase in the number of IAEA inspections allowed by the Iranian government.
‘Involuntary fluctuations’ for 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 Mr. Eslami repeated on Saturday. France nevertheless judged Thursday that it was “an unprecedented and extremely serious development”.
Finally, the IAEA chief added 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 had been 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 at ever higher levels, far from the limit set by the agreement at 3.67%: it thus has 434.7 kilograms of uranium at 20 % (compared to 386.4 kilos previously) and from 87.5 kilos to 60% (compared to 62.3 kilos).