Iran Threatens Backlash as Western Powers Push IAEA Resolution Forward
Iran warned Western nations against moving forward with a planned resolution against Tehran at a quarterly meeting of the UN’s nuclear watchdog this week, according to the Iranian foreign ministry on Wednesday.
The statement, which specifically named France, Germany, and the UK, highlighted a conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in which the Iranian minister said France its allies were jeopardizing a “positive atmosphere” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by ignoring the deal.
Iran’s proposal, outlined in the IAEA reports obtained by Reuters, includes capping its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity—below the 90% weapons-grade threshold—and allowing four additional IAEA inspectors.
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Last week, IAEA director Rafael Grossi even traveled to Iran to try and address major issues such as unexplained uranium traces and limited inspector access, however, given Tehran’s history of non-compliance, diplomats said Wednesday that the resolution is moving forward regardless.
“Stopping enrichment to 60 percent is great; they shouldn’t be doing that in the first place, as we all know there’s no credible civilian use for the 60 percent,” one Western official said.
As of Oct. 26, Iran had enough 60 percent uranium for four nuclear weapons if further refined, according to the IAEA.
The US, Britain, France, and Germany, all members of the P5+1 bloc and signatories of the now-collapsed 2015 nuclear deal, have backed the resolution. The resolution is expected to pass at the IAEA’s quarterly 36-member meeting this week, despite opposition from China and Russia.
