IAEA: Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has reached 18 times the limit allowed in the JCPOA

On Monday, June 29, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced in its new report to the Board of Governors that Iran's enriched uranium reserves are more than 18 times the limit allowed in the JCPOA.

According to the Agency's estimate, Iran's enriched uranium reserves reached 3,809 kilograms as of May 15, 2022.

The agency says this increase comes despite the fact that, under the JCPOA, Iran can only possess 202 kilograms of enriched uranium.

In July 2015, Iran and six world powers reached an agreement to resolve Tehran's ambitious nuclear program, under which international sanctions were suspended or lifted in exchange for restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities.

With the withdrawal of the Donald Trump administration from the JCPOA in May 2018 and the imposition of severe sanctions against Iran, Tehran's process of reneging on the JCPOA gradually began, in such a way that in addition to halting the implementation of the Additional Protocol, it also implemented 20 and 60 percent enrichment.

According to the IAEA's report on Monday, Iran's stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium has increased from 9.9 kilograms to 43.1 kilograms.

Western powers are concerned that Iran, by approaching 90 percent enriched uranium, could have the material needed to build a nuclear bomb. Iran has denied any such efforts.

With the Biden administration taking office in January 2021, talks between Iran and the JCPOA members began to revive the agreement, but in recent months, negotiations have stalled due to new demands from Tehran.

'Limited progress' in answering agency's long-standing questions

One of the challenges facing Iran and the IAEA, which will likely be an obstacle to the revival of the JCPOA, is Tehran's failure to respond to the UN agency's questions about its undeclared nuclear facilities.

The IAEA stated in its report on Monday that Iran has provided few answers to the agency's long-standing questions about the origin of uranium particles found at its three undeclared nuclear sites.

The agency added: "Iran has not provided explanations that are technically valid in relation to the Agency's findings at those sites. Safeguards issues related to these three facilities remain unresolved."

Agency inspectors have so far identified three “suspicious” sites in Iran, one in Turqoozabad, a suburb of Tehran, and another in Isfahan, both of which “were destroyed in 2003 and 2004, probably with the aim of eliminating uranium traces.”

Last March, Iran agreed to provide transparent answers to the Agency's questions about the origin of uranium at its undeclared sites within a three-month period.

The new IAEA report shows that Iran has not fulfilled its commitment.

Reuters writes in this regard that the lack of progress on Tehran's accountability could lead to a new diplomatic conflict between Iran and Western powers at next week's meeting of the IAEA's governing council.

If Western powers seek to pass a resolution critical of Tehran, this will likely make the process of revitalizing the JCPOA more difficult.

Source: Radio Farda