U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to go back to Iran’s nuclear deal would require prior agreement between the parties outlining how Iran’s breach of the multilateral treaty could be reversed, he said. head of the DA atomic watchdog Thursday.
“I can’t think they’re just going to say, ‘We’re back to square one’ because square one is no longer there,” said Rafael Grossi, who heads the Energy Group. Atomic International, told Reuters in an interview.
“It is clear that there will be a protocol or agreement or understanding or supporting document that clearly sets out what we will do,” said Grossi, who is responsible for overseeing the watchdog’s 2015 agreement with the known as the Integrated Plan Action.
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US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and began imposing a number of sanctions against Tehran as part of a so-called high-pressure campaign aimed at targeting pressured Iran and persuaded him to agree to a more favorable agreement, in Washington ‘s eyes.
Iran’s uranium conversion facility near Isfahan, which recycles uranium ore into uranium hexafluoride gas, which is then taken to Natanz and fed into the centrifuges for enrichment, March 30, 2005. ( AP / Vahid Salemi)
But Iran has not done so, instead opting for uranium enrichment to numbers far beyond what the agreement allowed. The Islamic Republic ‘s stockpile of rich uranium is more than 2.4 tons, 12 times higher than the JCPOA limit, although it was still less than eight tons of Iran enriched before it signed its contract. Iran has enriched uranium up to 4.5% purity, above the 3.67% limit of the treaty although it was lower than the 20% it achieved before the agreement.
For his part, Biden has pledged to enter into the nuclear deal if Iran returns first to comply. It has also expressed a desire to negotiate a “longer and stronger” follow-up agreement that would extend the time-limited provisions on the JCPOA, while also dealing with Iran’s missile program and reducing the influence of Tehran regional agents.
Iran has indicated that it is willing to return to compliance with the agreement if the U.S. lifts the sanctions imposed after Trump’s withdrawal, but has said it would not agree to negotiations. for a subsequent contract.
“There is more [nuclear] material… there is more activity, there are more centrifuges, and more are named. So what happens to all this? This is the question for them at the political level to decide, ”Grossi told Reuters.
“What I see is that we are moving a full circle back to December 2015,” he said, referring to the short time after the agreement was signed when the IAEA oversaw its takeover. Iran removed large quantities of nuclear material from several sites across the country in order to comply with the JCPOA.
“If they want to [comply], they could do it very quickly. But for all that we had a registered course, ”said Grossi.
On Wednesday, the remaining parties met with the fraudulent nuclear deal to discuss Tehran ‘s latest breaches along with Biden’ s plans to restore the agreement.
The so-called “joint commission” meeting included China, France, Russia, Iran, Germany and Britain and Helga Schmid was the EU’s chief foreign officer.
Meanwhile, last month’s assassination of the famous nuclear scientist from Mohsen Fakhrizadeh – who the US and Israel have long seen as the head of Iran’s counterfeit nuclear weapons program – has escalated tensions in the region, with Iran blames Israel for killing
Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in an undated photograph. (With permission)
In the wake of Fakhrizadeh ‘s death, Iran’ s MP introduced a bill calling for Iran ‘s further expansion of its nuclear program and the completion of investigations into nuclear facilities by the IAEA.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it did not agree with the bill and President Hassan Rouhani has suggested he not sign the law.
Rouhani has resisted criticism from Iran’s ultra-conservatives for his determination to seize the “opportunity” provided by the U.S. presidential election in January.
‘Not the best time’
Rouhani has said Iran is ready to come back to the treaty as soon as other parties deliver on their promises.
Biden has said he is willing to return to the deal but has not revealed much else about the upcoming U.S. strategy on the issue.
Before talks began on Wednesday, Russia’s ambassador to Vienna international agencies, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that the focus would be on “how to maintain the nuclear deal and ensure its implementation. completely and fairly. “
“Career [the] It is inevitable that the USA will be discussed in this regard, ”he said.
Abbas Araghchi (Center R), Political Deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, and Helga Schmid (Center L), Secretary General of the EU External Action Service (EEAS), will take part in a meeting of the Joint Commission the Joint Action Plan (JCPOA) attended by China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran on 28 July 2019 at the Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria. (ALEX HALADA / AFP)
One diplomat told AFP that Wednesday’s meeting would be “an opportunity to tell the Iranians face to face to stop the breach of the treaty” and not to jeopardize the chances of their return to diplomacy under Biden.
Tensions between Tehran and the West have escalated in recent days when dissident Ruhollah Zam was executed in Iran last week, sparking global unrest.
But despite the various sources of disruption, the diplomat said studies were continuing “as usual” on the ground.
On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday’s meeting was “part of our work to keep the JCPOA alive.” “
A few days earlier he had stressed that the agreement was “the only way to avoid Iran becoming a nuclear power” and said a meeting of ministers from partners to the JCPOA would be called before Christmas.
AFP contributed to this report
