The UN nuclear watchdog on Thursday (21 November 2024) condemned Iran for failing to fully cooperate with the agency, the second time it has done so in five months.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has also called on Tehran to provide answers in its long-running investigation into uranium particles found at two locations that Tehran has not declared as nuclear sites.
Nineteen IAEA board members voted for the resolution, while Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, and 12 abstained and one abstained, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the results of the closed vote.
The resolution was proposed by France, Germany, and Great Britain, supported by the United States. It comes at a critical time, before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Mr. Trump’s first term in office was marked by a particularly tense period with Iran, when the US president pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran. In 2018, Mr. Trump unilaterally pulled America out of the Iran nuclear deal with world powers and imposed tougher sanctions that have begun to cripple Iran’s economy.
The resolution comes after a classified report earlier this week in which the IAEA said Iran had defied international demands to rein in its nuclear program and increase its stockpile of enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels.
The report, seen by AP Tuesday (November 19, 2024), said that as of October 26, Iran had amassed 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last IAEA report on the month of August. . Enriched uranium at 60% purity is only a short, technical step away from the 90% weapons level.
The resolution approved on Thursday (November 21, 2024) requires the IAEA to now make a “comprehensive and updated assessment” of Iran’s nuclear activities, which could eventually trigger a referral to the UN Security Council to consider further sanctions on Tehran.
In the past, the IAEA has named two locations near Tehran – Varamin and Turquzabad – where there are traces of processed uranium, according to IAEA inspectors. The Thursday (November 21, 2024) resolution was sharpened at the site, asking Tehran to provide a “credible technical explanation” for the presence of uranium particles at the site.
The IAEA requested that Iran also provide answers about the origin and current location of the nuclear material in order to “be in a position to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is purely peaceful.”
Western officials suspect that traces of uranium found by the IAEA may provide evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program dating back to at least 2003. Tehran insists the program was peaceful.
One such site became public in 2018 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced it at the United Nations and called it a secret nuclear warehouse hidden in a carpet cleaning factory.
Iran denied that, although IAEA inspectors later found man-made uranium particles there.
While the number of sites subject to IAEA questions has been reduced from four to two since 2019, the remaining questions have been a constant source of tension.
On the subject of Varamin, the IAEA said inspectors believe Iran used the site from 1999 to 2003 as a pilot project to process uranium ore and turn it into gas, which can then be enriched by spinning it in a centrifuge. The IAEA said the building on the site had been demolished in 2004.
Turquzabad, the second location, is where the IAEA believes Iran brought some material from Varamin amid the demolition, although it could not “explain the presence of different types of isotopically modified particles” found there.
The Thursday (November 21, 2024) resolution before the 35-member council at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna called on Tehran to explain the presence of uranium particles in Varamin and Turquzabad, inform UN nuclear watchdogs of the current presence of the nuclear material, and grant IAEA inspectors access to all nuclear sites Iran.
The draft resolution was seen by AP.
Tehran continues to maintain that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and has told the IAEA that it has disclosed all nuclear material, activities and locations as required under the Safeguard Agreement with the IAEA.
There was no immediate comment from Tehran although Iranian officials have vowed immediate retaliation if the resolution is passed. Previously, Tehran had responded to the IAEA resolution by increasing its nuclear activities.
The resolution also requires IAEA director general Rafael Grossi to provide an updated assessment of Iran’s nuclear program – including the possible presence of undeclared nuclear material at the two locations – by spring 2025 at the latest.
The assessment could be the basis for further measures by European countries, diplomats said, raising potential tensions between Iran and the West. It could also provide a basis for European countries to trigger sanctions against Iran before October 2025, when the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal expires, diplomats said.
Published – November 22, 2024 04:13 IST
