Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, in a phone call that the “unconstructive” efforts by a number of Western countries pursuing a new censure resolution at the watchdog’s board meetings.
Grossi reported earlier in the day to IAEA’s council members that he and Iranian officials discussed “the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235” during his visit to Tehran earlier this month.
During his two-day trip to Iran, Grossi met with Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi. He later met with Araghchi, a key negotiator in Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
The UN watchdog on Wednesday highlighted Iran’s expected cooperation by saying that “Iran had begun implementation of preparatory measures aimed at stopping the increase of its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235.”
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018, when Washington, under former President Donald Trump’s administration, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic, which in turn began stepping up its nuclear enrichment efforts.
In September of last year, Grossi condemned Tehran’s decision to withdraw accreditation from experienced IAEA inspectors, after Iran’s foreign ministry withdrew their licenses on what they said were “excessive demands” by the UK, France, Germany, and the United States with the “aim of destroying cooperation between Iran and the IAEA” and misusing the watchdog “for their own political purposes.”
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the IAEA issued a joint statement agreeing to facilitate enhanced cooperation, In March of 2023.
The US earlier this year said it was “seriously concerned” about the expansion of Iran’s nuclear program and slammed Tehran’s cooperation as “severely lacking.”
