France, Germany and UK to denounce IAEA restrictions Iran has placed on inspections of its nuclear program

France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the three European countries which signed the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, will present to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a resolution condemning the restrictions imposed by the regime on the agency’s inspections of its nuclear facilitiesdiplomatic sources informed the agency on Monday AFP.

The Europeans will make this presentation during the negotiations of the Board of Governors, which is meeting this week at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, to try to find an approach that balances firmness and restraint and serves to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The pact has been in play since former US President Donald Trump decided to unilaterally step aside in 2018 and restore economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The situation has not improved despite the fact that the current US President, Joe biden, has promised to reverse this decision as long as Tehran fulfills its nuclear commitments again. Iran, on the other hand, asks as a precondition for renegotiating the lifting of punitive measures.

European countries’ resolution could void the three-month temporary deal that IAEA Secretary General Argentina Rafael Grossi, contacted Iran on February 23 to mitigate what it called a “great loss” in terms of inspections by the UN agency.

In the event that the critical resolution gets a favorable vote, Iran has threatened to “terminate” the agreement, in which it has promised to provide all data from its facility’s security cameras and other requirements as long as it is needed. he would withdraw the sanctions at the end of that period.

“The establishment of a resolution, to the total detriment of constructive exchanges with the Agency, would be totally counterproductive and destructive,” the Islamic Republic warned in an informal note addressed to member states.

According to various sources, the resolution proposed by the Europeans could be voted on on Friday and would benefit from the support of the United States.

The agency AFP had access to a version of the text which “Expresses serious concern [de esos países] for Iran’s decision to stop complying “with some of its inspection-related commitments and” urges Iran to resume implementation immediately. “

A diplomatic source said the possibility that the Iranian regime might not comply with the agreement was a “risk to be taken” to safeguard “the agency’s credibility” and resist “blackmail” from the Islamic Republic.

The last warning dates back to June 2020, following Tehran’s refusal to allow the inspection of two suspicious plants. It was the first critical resolution since 2012.

Russia, one of the Persian regime’s main allies, clearly opposed the text. This type of measure would be an “unfortunate mistake”, stressed the Russian ambassador to international organizations based in Vienna on his social networks. Mijail Ulyanov, Monday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, for his part, stressed that the bombings carried out by the United States in Syria last week against pro-Iranian militias were aimed at undermining any negotiations. “There is no doubt that influential forces in Washington have taken steps to disrupt this meeting,” he said, quoted by the Russian news agency. TASS.

However, before the start of the meeting, Rafael Grossi said the issue of inspections should not be used “as a bargaining chip” during negotiations.

Referring to the temporary agreement signed with the IAEA, the spokesperson for Iranian diplomacy Saeed Khatibzadeh, said on Monday that “Iran has given the other side a break in good faith.” “We hope that the other side will appreciate this approach of diplomacy and cooperation,” he added.

In recent weeks, the Islamic Republic has taken a new step towards withdrawing from the agreement (uranium enrichment rate of 20%, production of uranium metal and limitation of inspections), in order to get the United States to withdraw the sanctions that are stifling its economy.

Carried out in 2015 in Vienna between Iran and the 5 + 1 group (France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany), the JCPOA first sought to supervise the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic by exchange of a relaxation of international sanctions. . Despite their denials, Tehran is accused of seeking to equip itself with atomic weapons.

In this sense, the latest violations of the agreement have put the international community on alert. A few weeks ago, the IAEA announced that Tehran had started manufacturing uranium metal. On February 8, the UN agency “verified 3.6 grams of uranium metal at the Isfahan plant” (in the center of the country). The question is sensitive since uranium metal can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

The nuclear deal includes a 15-year ban on “the production or acquisition of plutonium or uranium metals and their alloys”. In addition, it anticipates that Iran could be allowed to begin investigating the production of uranium fuel “in small quantities” after 10 years, but only with the permission of the other signatories.

“Iran has shown restraint in negotiating this technical agreement with the IAEA, and it would be foolish for the Americans to waste their time,” he told the AFP Kelsey Davenport, director of the non-proliferation policy of the Arms Control Association, who asks Washington to make a “concrete gesture”.

“In the short term,” the UN agency can continue to do its job without much impact on inspections, “but if the situation continues, confidence in the peaceful nature of the nuclear program will weaken,” he warned. .

With information from AFP

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