US to boycott UN tribute to Ebrahim Raisi, nuclear talks with Iran suspended

US envoy won’t attend the tribute to the late Iranian president; planned talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog over Tehran’s nuclear program are put on hold.

An Iranian man prays over the coffins of late president Ebrahim Raisi and two others, at the Imam Reza shrine during a funeral ceremony in the city of Mashhad. Picture; AFP.

The United States will boycott a United Nations tribute on Thursday to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed earlier this month in a helicopter crash, Reuters news agency reports.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly traditionally meets to pay tribute to any world leader who was a sitting head of state at the time of their death.

However a US official told Reuters: “We won’t attend this event in any capacity.”

The boycott was revealed as planned talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog aimed at breaking the impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program were put on hold after Raisi’s death.

The temporary suspension of talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) comes as its chief Rafael Grossi reiterated his concern over public statements made in Iran regarding its nuclear weapons capability.

In the report, Grossi said that “further public statements made in Iran … regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons and possible changes to Iran’s nuclear doctrine only increase … concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations.” Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapon capability, insisting its activities are entirely for peaceful purposes.

Earlier this month, Grossi visited Iran in a bid to improve co-operation with Tehran, urging leaders to adopt “concrete” measures to address concerns over its nuclear program.

After returning from his trip, Grossi decried “completely unsatisfactory” co-operation with Tehran, saying he would like to see “results soon”.

– Breaching deal limits –

But in the meantime, the deaths of Iran’s president Raisi, his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others in a helicopter crash on 19 May have further complicated the situation.

One day after the helicopter crash, “Iran indicated that due to the ‘special circumstances’, it was no longer appropriate to hold substantive discussions” and a new date would be set, a confidential report seen by AFP on Monday said.

With presidential elections scheduled for the end of June, Grossi “reiterated … his call for, and disposition to continue” the negotiations.

At the same time, Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program and now has enough material to build several atomic bombs.

In a separate confidential report seen by AFP ahead of an IAEA board of governors’ meeting next week, the agency said Iran’s estimated stockpile of enriched uranium had reached more than 30 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.

According to the report, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 6,201.3 kilogrammes as of May 11, up by 675.8 kilogrammes from the last quarterly report in February.

Tensions between Iran and the IAEA have repeatedly flared since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief fell apart.

EU-mediated efforts to revive the deal – bringing the US back on board and Iran back into compliance – have so far been fruitless.

With AFP