The IAEA confirms the Iranian plan to reduce its nuclear observation

Iranian plans respond to the approval of a critical resolution with the discovery of traces of uranium in undeclared facilities

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Iran will respond to the growing pressure on its atomic activity by withdrawing part of the monitoring system that international atomic energy organization (IAEA) had placed in its facilities. The Secretary General of the IAEA, Raphael Grossihas confirmed this Thursday the Iranian plans, which apparently respond to the approval of a critical resolution with the explanations by Tehran of the discovery of traces of uranium in undeclared facilities.

At a press conference, Grossi defined the comatose nuclear agreement of 2015 as a “fatal blow” for his organization’s observation systems to remain partially in the dark for “three or four weeks.” Specifically, as he explained, Iran will “withdraw 27 cameras” and other monitors that were part of a commitment that the country voluntarily adopted on the occasion of the signing of the atomic pact. This allows to follow processes in places like Natanz, Isfajn and Tehern live.

The Iranian news agency Tasnim reproduced this Wednesday a statement from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announcing the conclusion of its participation in the “ultra safeguards” regime, in which the IAEA was accused of “ignoring the fact that this cooperation showed good will” Iran. The text clarified that “80% of the IAEA chambers in Iran” will continue to provide data.

Rafael Grossi has specified that Iran will keep “40 cameras or so” connected, complying with the additional protocol of safeguards linked to the 2015 agreement. In a trill, the analyst and professor at the Universidad Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Abdolrasool Divsallarinterprets this half-assed Tehran blackout as a “modest retaliation” by the Islamic Republic of Iran: “They are betting on a nuclear escalation to pressure the US/EU to make concessions”, Be the.

But the bridges between the protagonists are becoming weaker. This Wednesday night the United Kingdom, France and Germany, signatories of the nuclear agreement, together with the United States, urged Iran in a statement to “fulfill its legal obligations and cooperate with the IAEA to fully clarify and resolve the issues without further delay.” The message came shortly after a condemning IAEA resolution, supported by those same countries and rejected by Russia and China.

The axis of the controversy is a series of facilities that Iran had not previously declared to the IAEA and where, after receiving information from Israel, nuclear inspectors detected traces of uranium. It is believed that at least one of them corresponds to a warehouse that housed a file that supposedly proves that, until 2003, Iran had pursued the manufacture of an atomic weapon. Rafael Grossi has explained that the explanations that Iran has given so far for such findings are not convincing.

The nuclear deal that Iran and a number of countries signed seven years ago allowed for the establishment of a broad monitoring system in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and Iran’s renunciation of enriching uranium above sufficient limits for peaceful atomic activity. In exchange, all existing sanctions were lifted. In 2017, the former US president withdrew from the pact and reimposed sanctions, leading to a fateful escalation that has lasted until today and has fueled regional tension and the Iranian atomic race.

Claiming its right to respond to sanctions within the framework of the agreement, Iran has increased the storage of uranium and its purity above the limits, approaching those required to produce a nuclear weapon that Tehran says it is not pursuing. Although US leader Joe Biden advocated returning to the agreement track, and talks to achieve it were on track, the US and Iran have reached a impassewhich, if the tension rises, can become dangerously insurmountable.