Iran announces expansion of enrichment in response to IAEA resolution

Monday November 25, 2024

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, told the Council on November 20 that during his visit to Tehran earlier this month, Iran had expressed its willingness to consider to put an end to the expansion of its stock of uranium enriched up to 60% uranium. 235: Uranium enriched to more than 20% may be considered weapons-grade enrichment, although enrichments of around 90% are more generally considered weapons-grade.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in a statement issued on November 22, said: “In the final hours of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on November 21 2024, a non-consensus resolution regarding the Iranian project “A peaceful nuclear program was adopted under pressure and insistence from three European countries and the United States, despite the lack of support from about half of the member states.”

On November 21, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (together known as the E3) made a joint statement to the Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments under the of the JCPOA, a 2015 multilateral agreement under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, and allow the intervention of international inspectors. In it, the E3 claims that Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium is now “more than 32 times the limit” it committed to in the JCPOA. The E3 described Iran’s “choices and decisions regarding its nuclear activities” as the source of a “long-standing proliferation crisis”, a situation which they said was made worse by Iran “in further deviating from its commitments in the JCPOA.

Iran welcomed the recent visit of Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi to Tehran, “ensuring all necessary preparations to foster constructive engagement and the success of the visit”, in line with its policy of “engaging in constructive dialogue” with Iran. agency within the framework of rights and obligations. enshrined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and in the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, indicates the Iranian press release. The high-level meetings and discussions during the visit “provided a solid basis for promoting constructive interactions between Iran and the IAEA.”

The Iranian statement called the E3’s actions “both divisive and unjustifiable.”

“Rather than fostering the constructive atmosphere established during the director general’s visit, they prematurely proposed a politically motivated resolution against Iran, ignoring the promising trajectory of Iran-IAEA cooperation,” he said.

“In line with this position, the President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued directives to launch the operation of a significant number of advanced centrifuges of different models,” the statement said, adding that these measures fall “within the framework of Iranian policy”. rights and obligations under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.

“Despite this strong response, Iran reaffirms that its technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue as before, in strict accordance with the safeguards agreement,” the Iranian statement said, adding that “the Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates its willingness to engage constructively with all relevant stakeholders based on international legal principles and standards. Iran remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the rights and interests of its great nation while. resolutely advancing its peaceful nuclear program and indigenous.