IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Monday told the agency’s Board of Governors that Iran is only cooperating with a “fraction” of the nuclear inspection requirements he expected them to comply with under a deal between the sides made on March 4.
After detailing to the board some positive steps Iran had made in restoring some aspects of the agency’s nuclear monitoring, he said, “But this is a fraction of what we envisaged, and what needs to happen now is a sustained and uninterrupted process that leads to all the commitments contained in the Joint Statement being fulfilled without further delay.”
Grossi said that “the Agency has not been able to perform JCPOA verification and monitoring activities in relation to the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate [all materials related to nuclear weapons] for two and one quarter years, including the period after June 2022 when no surveillance and monitoring equipment related to [the] JCPOA was installed and operating.”
Next, he said that a partially classified report which he presented to the board “indicates that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has risen by over a quarter in three months. This includes its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 20% U-235, which is approaching half a ton, and its stockpile of high enriched uranium – enriched up to 60% U-235 – which is well over 100 kg.
“In that report you will see that the process of implementation of the March 4 Joint Statement has started and some progress has been made,” said Grossi.
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