IAEA asks Iran about uranium particles at three facilities
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, called on Iran to give "credible technical explanations" about the presence of uranium particles in three of its facilities and reiterated that, in the absence of such explanations, the Agency "cannot give guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is exclusively peaceful".
Grossi stressed that the agency's verification capabilities "have been severely affected by Iran's decision to stop implementing its commitments, including those related to the additional protocol," in response to the US decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement in 2018 and reimpose sanctions against Tehran.
In this vein, Grossi has argued that "even then, there will still be considerable challenges in confirming consistency with respect to the situation prior to February 21, 2021, when Iran declared the inventory of centrifuges and heavy water."
"Despite the agency's readiness to interact with Iran without delay to resolve these issues, Iran has not been available," the IAEA director general has lamented, stressing that the agency "remains prepared to resume contacts with Iran without delay to resolve these issues."
Iranian authorities last week rejected the latest IAEA report and stated that "it is a repetition of previous unfounded issues", while reiterating that its "peaceful" nuclear program "has been the most transparent so far".
