Iran Stonewalling Nuclear Inspectors, Stockpile Reaches 22 Times Nuclear Deal Limit
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a scathing report accusing Iran of extreme and unjustified stonewalling of nuclear inspectors, as the country’s uranium stockpile reaches 22 times the limit set out in the 2015 nuclear deal.
According to confidential reports from the IAEA, Iran has continued to bar several experienced nuclear inspectors and has enough uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity, close to weapons-grade, for three atom bombs.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi described Iran’s decision to withdraw the accreditation of several inspectors, announced in September, as “unprecedented” and “unambiguously contrary to the cooperation that is required.”
The move to withdraw the accreditation of several inspectors was reportedly a retaliation for “political abuses” by the United States, France, Germany, and Britain, according to Iran.
In a separate confidential report, the IAEA stated that Iran’s estimated stockpile of enriched uranium had reached more than 22 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers. Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 4,486.8kg as of October 28, well above the limit of 202.8kg set in the 2015 deal.
The report comes amid long-standing tensions between Iran and the agency, with Western nations suspecting Iran’s nuclear program of eventually developing a nuclear weapon, a claim that Iran denies.
The 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions began to unravel in 2018 when then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions. Iran responded by stepping up its nuclear activities.
Efforts by the European Union to revive the deal have so far proved unsuccessful as Iran’s stonewalling of nuclear inspectors and its growing uranium stockpile continue to raise alarms among world powers.