IAEA chief meets with Iran amid enrichment fears

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency met with officials in Iran on Saturday, days after it was revealed that the Islamic Republic had enriched uranium particles with a degree close to what was needed for an atomic weapon, raising new concerns about its disputed nuclear program.

During a press conference with the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), declined to comment on his conversations with local officials, saying the delegation from the agency was still working.

“There is a working environment, one of honesty and cooperation,” said Grossi, who is expected to speak to reporters again when he returns to Vienna later on Saturday.

Earlier this week, the IAEA reported that 83.7% enriched uranium particles had been found at the Fordo underground nuclear power plant, which is close to the 90% purity needed to make an atomic weapon.

The IAEA’s confidential quarterly report, which was distributed to member states on Tuesday, came at a time of heightened tension due to anti-government protests that have rocked Iran for months and Western anger over the sale of attack drones to Russian forces in Ukraine.

According to the report, UN agency inspectors discovered in January that two Fordo IR-6 centrifuge cascades had been configured “substantially different” from those previously reported. Particles of up to 83.7% purity appeared in samples taken the following day, he added.

The document spoke only of “particles”, which suggests that Iran would not have a reserve of uranium enriched to more than 60%, the level announced by Tehran some time ago.

Iran tried to present the discovery of highly enriched uranium particles as a temporary side effect of its efforts to obtain a product with a final purity of 60%. But experts say such a breakthrough in purity, even at the atomic level, would raise the suspicions of inspectors.

Iran’s nuclear program chief Mohammad Eslami acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report during the press conference with Grossi, but said it did not amount to 84% enrichment and claimed that “the ‘ambiguity’ of the conclusions had been resolved.

The Islamic Republic now produces enriched uranium at 60% purity, a level that nuclear non-proliferation experts say has no civilian use for Tehran.

The 2015 agreement between Tehran and the nuclear powers limited Iran’s enrichment capacity to 3.67%, enough to power a nuclear power plant. The United States unilaterally left the pact in 2018, and recent efforts to revive it have stalled since last summer.