The IAEA has detected 83.7% enriched uranium particles in Iran, just under the 90% needed to make a nuclear bomb.
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 02/03/2023 at 14:26, updated 02/03/2023 at 14:43
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Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). JOE KLAMAR/AFP
France this Thursday denounced the “very worrying development” of Iran’s nuclear policy after a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pointed to more than 80% enriched uranium particles.
“This report shows a very worrying trajectory by Iran that has no justification,” said State Department spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre, referring to “an unprecedented and extremely serious development.”
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“Restart the dialogue”
The IAEA has discovered uranium enriched to 83.7% in Iran, just below the 90% needed to make a nuclear bomb, without being able to say at the time whether that threshold was reached accidentally or intentionally.
Those particles were discovered after sampling at Fordo’s underground factory in January, the UN body specified in a report consulted by AFP on Tuesday. For its part, Iran, which denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons, has reported in a letter quoted by the IAEA of “involuntary fluctuations” during the enrichment process.
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The agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, has planned to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Saturday to “resume dialogue”. “The report also mentions the impossibility for the IAEA to establish continuity of knowledge about Iran’s nuclear program,” added Anne-Claire Legendre. “We express our full support for the agency in its efforts to obtain all clarifications from Iran,” she added. “Iran’s compliance with its international obligations depends on it.”
Depending on the progress made during Rafael Grossi’s trip, the United States and E3 (UK, France and Germany) will decide whether or not to present a draft resolution to the IAEA Board of Governors, scheduled for next week in Vienna.
Iran was already the subject of a call to order over a lack of cooperation over traces of enriched uranium found at three undeclared sites at the last meeting in November 2022.
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