Iran not yet allowing inspectors into main nuclear sites, says UN atomic agency chief
The warning comes as the UK, France and Germany prepare to reimpose on Iran all the international sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran has not yet agreed to give the United Nations atomic agency access to the country’s main enrichment sites, the agency’s chief said on Wednesday, although a team of international inspectors recently returned following June’s Israeli and US strikes.
The US and Israeli bombing strikes heavily damaged Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. The Pentagon says the attacks delayed Iran’s program by up to two years, but experts are still trying to pinpoint the status of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and Tehran’s capability to rebuild its nuclear capability.
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi told reporters in Washington that it was essential that inspectors visit those sites and that the agency was currently involved in talks with Iranian officials on how to do so.
“I would say our work has started,” Mr Grossi said. “We are not yet where I would like us to be. I will not hide this. But at the same time, as a diplomat, I am always working.”
Mr Grossi said the agency doesn’t believe there has been any major shipment of nuclear material from the sites since they were attacked by the US and Israel, based on satellite photos and other information.
“We do not see or believe that there has been any major movement of material,” he said.
Mr Grossi’s comments come at a critical moment in efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear activities. Iran had produced enough highly enriched uranium for up to 10 nuclear weapons before the US and Israeli strikes in June caused severe damage to many of its key facilities.
On Thursday (local time), Britain, France and Germany are likely to reimpose on Iran all the international sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal over Tehran’s broad breaches of the agreement, according to diplomats involved in discussions.
US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, and Iran started ramping up its nuclear program a year later. European powers stuck by the agreement.
If the three European countries decide to reimpose the financial measures targeting Iran, they will inform the UN Security Council on Thursday that they are triggering a 30-day snapback process that would place Tehran under the comprehensive sanctions regime it faced before the deal, European diplomats say.
Such a step would not end diplomacy, but would put Tehran under pressure to provide the inspectors with the access the UN agency is seeking and agree to talks with the US before the 30 days are up.
Washington and Tehran have been at odds over the format of future talks. The Trump administration is insisting such negotiations must involve direct meetings between American and Iranian officials. Iran has insisted such talks be indirect and is seeking an assurance that it won’t be subject to future attacks.
Mr Grossi met on Wednesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and conferred on Tuesday with Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Iran has taken some modest steps to improve ties with Mr Grossi’s agency, including allowing inspectors to this week visit Bushehr, where Iran has a nuclear power plant that relies on fuel supplied by Russia.
But Mr Grossi underscored that broader inspections were needed, and the agency would not take a gradual approach.
“We are notifying of the inspections that we need to carry out. It is not the only place,” Mr Grossi said of Bushehr. “There is no such thing as an a la carte inspection work.”
In the aftermath of the June conflict, Iran passed legislation ending co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Mr Grossi pulled his inspectors out of the country around the same time because of concerns for their safety.
Mr Grossi has been conducting negotiations with Iran even while he has been under special round-the-clock protection from Austrian security services over a specific threat coming from Iran-linked individuals. Iran blamed Mr Grossi and his agency for helping spark the June conflict, saying that under his leadership he had sowed the impression that Iran had a nuclear weapons program.
Tehran says its nuclear work is not part of a weapons program. The UN agency has repeatedly warned it can no longer vouch for the peaceful nature of Iran’s activities.
Iran’s decision to slash co-operation with the atomic agency after the June strikes is one of the key issues at stake in Europe’s expected move on Thursday at the UN to trigger the sanctions snapback provision in the 2015 nuclear deal.
Snapback would make conventional weapons sales and the sale of ballistic missiles and parts against international law and outlaw most of Iran’s nuclear activities. The old sanctions included tight restrictions on many Iranian banks and shipping companies as well as people and entities with ties to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard. They encouraged countries to monitor Iranian vessels for smuggled goods.
The sanctions could well place further pressure on Iran’s beleaguered economy and currency, and it would end the hopes of the more reformist elements in Iran of reviving the 2015 deal in some form and end Western sanctions.
China and Russia cannot use their veto to stop the reimposition of sanctions. The 30-day snapback timeline gives Iran a last chance to take steps to prevent the reimposition of sanctions. The European powers told Iran in July they could agree to hold off on the economic measures for six months if Iran resumed full co-operation with the IAEA and re-entered nuclear negotiations with the US
US officials have been broadly supportive of European snapback diplomacy. Foreign ministers from the three European countries held a call on Wednesday to make a final decision and spoke with Mr Rubio to co-ordinate.
“Iran’s leadership should choose the best interest of their people over misguided ambitions of regional domination. That means engaging in meaningful direct talks with the United States and co-operating with the IAEA,” a State Department spokesman said. “We are closely co-ordinated with our E3 partners about snapback.”
The reimposition of international sanctions is likely to have only a modest effect on Iran’s already beleaguered economy, potentially weakening the currency and propelling inflation. China is unlikely to stop buying Iranian oil, a key revenue for the Iranian state. However, Iran will once again find itself singled out over its nuclear program in international forums, a political position it has bristled against in the past.
Dow Jones
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