UN nuclear chief heads to Iran after near weapons-grade uranium find

UN nuclear chief heads to Iran after near weapons-grade uranium find
By Payam Doost Mohamadi
Tehran (AFP) March 3, 2023

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is expected in Tehran later Friday for discussions with officials after his agency's inspectors in Iran found uranium particles enriched to just under weapons-grade level.

The visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency comes with the Vienna-based organisation seeking to get Iran to increase cooperation over its nuclear activities.

A confidential IAEA report seen Tuesday by AFP said uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent -- just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb -- had been detected at Iran's underground Fordo plant about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital.

Tehran denies wanting to acquire atomic weapons, and last week said it had not made any attempt to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent purity, noting that "unintended fluctuations... may have occurred" during the enrichment process.

The discovery came after Iran had substantially modified an interconnection between two centrifuge clusters enriching uranium, without declaring it to the IAEA.

The IAEA tweeted on Thursday that Grossi would "travel to Tehran for high-level meetings at the invitation of Iran's government".

Iran's Fars news agency said the IAEA director general would arrive in Tehran on Friday evening ahead of meetings planned to be held on Saturday.

A diplomatic source told AFP that Grossi would also meet President Ebrahim Raisi to "relaunch the dialogue" on Iran's atomic work and to "reset the relationship at the highest level".

The IAEA chief's visit comes amid deadlock in negotiations on reviving the 2015 deal that promised Iran relief from biting economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.

- 'Greater cooperation' -

These restrictions, including the 3.67 percent enrichment threshold set out in the deal, were intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

However, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then president Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to suspend the implementation of its own commitments under the accord.

Negotiations aimed at reviving the deal -- known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA -- started in 2021 but have been stalled since last year.

Grossi's visit is being seen in Iran as another indication that a diplomatic approach to resolving the nuclear standoff is possible.

"It is hoped that this trip will form the basis for greater cooperation and a clearer horizon between Iran and the IAEA," said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with CNN that "the window for an agreement on negotiations to lift sanctions is still open, but this window will not be open for ever".

Depending on the outcome of Grossi's trip, the United States and the E3 -- European powers Britain, France and Germany -- will decide whether submit a draft resolution censuring Iran to the IAEA board of governors, which is due to convene next week in Vienna.

In November 2022, Iran was criticised for its lack of cooperation regarding traces of enriched uranium found at three undeclared sites.

Grossi's last visit to Iran took place in early March 2022, and was focused on the three undeclared sites.

The IAEA said Grossi would hold a news conference upon his return to Vienna late Saturday afternoon.

Iran nuclear negotiations under Raisi
Paris (AFP) March 3, 2023 - The head of the UN's atomic watchdog travels to Iran on Friday for talks with President Ebrahim Raisi aimed at getting the Islamic republic to boost cooperation over its suspect nuclear programme.

Rafael Grossi's visit comes amid fears that Iran, which has reneged on some of its commitments since the United States pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal in 2018, is getting closer to building an atomic bomb.

Iran denies any such ambitions.

Here is a timeline of key nuclear developments since the ultra-conservative Raisi came to power in 2021:

- August 2021: firm on sanctions -

On taking office in August 2021, Raisi says Tehran backs any diplomatic moves to lift crippling US sanctions on his country but will not bow to Western pressure.

International sanctions against Iran were eased after it agreed to limit its nuclear activities under the deal reached in 2015, but former US president Donald Trump reinstated them after pulling out of the accord.

- March 2022: new tough measures -

Washington announces new sanctions targeting several entities it says are involved in procuring supplies for Iran's ballistic missile programme.

Tehran says the move shows US "ill will".

- June 2022: UN condemnation -

For the first time in two years, the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adopts a resolution submitted by Britain, France, Germany and the US condemning Iran.

Tehran responds by removing surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities.

- June-July 2022: talks stalemate -

On June 16, 2022, Washington sanctions a network of Iranian petrochemical firms, as well as alleged front companies in China and the United Arab Emirates.

Later the same month, EU-brokered indirect talks in Doha between Iran and the US conclude with "no progress made", the State Department says.

On a visit to Jerusalem in July 2022, US President Joe Biden vows to use "all" American power to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

A month later, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell submits a draft text on saving the 2015 deal.

- September 2022: competing demands -

In September 2022, Raisi reiterates on his debut visit to the United Nations that Iran is not seeking an atomic weapon and demands "guarantees" that the US will not withdraw again from a revived deal.

Israel's then-prime minister Yair Lapid tells the UN two days later the international community should use military force against Iran if it develops nuclear weapons.

- October 2022: US citizen released -

Baquer Namazi, one of four US citizens being held in Iran whose release Washington had demanded as part of the nuclear talks, is freed.

Three weeks later Raisi accuses the US of "dragging their feet" in the negotiations.

- February 2023: 'worrisome pace' -

On February 2, 2023, the IAEA says Iran has made covert changes to equipment at its Fordo uranium enrichment plant.

CIA director William Burns says on February 26 that Iran's nuclear programme is advancing at a "worrisome pace".

Two days later the IAEA says in a confidential report seen by AFP it has detected particles of uranium enriched to 83.7 percent, just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb.