UN nuclear watchdog warns of ‘fatal blow’ to a revived Iran nuclear deal

Iran has been censured for failing to account to United Nations nuclear monitors for uranium particles at three undeclared sites.

The 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) has adopted a resolution submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany which urges Iran to co-operate “without delay” with inspectors after IAEA head Rafael Grossi told the meeting he had not received a “technically credible” explanation for the presence of particles which were found in 2019 and 2020.

Adopted by 30 votes to five, with Russia and China voting against and India, Pakistan and Libya abstaining, the resolution prompted Russia’s IAEA ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov to tweet: “Countries which represent more than ½ of mankind didn’t support the resolution”.

Mr Grossi revealed on Thursday that Iran has removed 27 IAEA cameras monitoring nuclear facility operations around the country, making it all the more difficult for the agency to track advances towards weapons-grade material. He said this could be a “fatal blow” to efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which limited Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions.

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Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted that the resolution’s sponsors “put their short-sighted agenda ahead of IAEA credibility [and] are responsible for the consequences. Iran’s response is firm & proportionate”.

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said Iran “will not back off a single step” from its positions after the passing of the resolution, Iranian state media reported.

Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami argued Tehran had extended “maximum co-operation with the IAEA” while accusing the IAEA of adopting a “political” agenda and relying on “fake documents” to exert “maximum pressure” on Iran.

The agency’s spokesman said earlier the three locations could have been contaminated deliberately to sabotage Iran’s relations with the IAEA. Israel has been accused of repeatedly attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and assassinating its nuclear scientists.

With the aim of giving impetus to the Vienna talks to revive the deal, Mr Grossi warned that Iran is “just a few weeks” away from having enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb.

The IAEA’s 2021 report showed Iran had 43.1kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity. In under 10 days this could be enriched to the 90 per cent required for weapons, Kelsey Davenport of the Washington-based Arms Control Association told the BBC. However, Ms Davenport said manufacturing nuclear warheads would take one to two years.

Iran responded to the 2018 Trump administration’s abandonment of the agreement by gradually breaching commitments to enrich uranium only to 3.67 per cent, stockpile only 300kg and conduct purification solely with specified centrifuges. Tehran has pledged to revert to these commitments as soon as the US re-enters the deal and lifts sanctions which have shrunk Iran’s economy.

Although an agreed document has emerged from negotiations, finalisation has been stalled in part by Tehran’s demand that Washington revoke its designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a “terrorist” organisation. – Additional reporting: Reuters