Category Archives: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Iran to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity, UN nuclear watchdog says

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Latest move was flagged in law passed last month after the assassination of country’s top nuclear scientist

Iran has told the United Nations nuclear watchdog it plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain, the agency has said.

The move is the latest of several recent announcements by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to further breach the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in retaliation for Washington’s withdrawal from the agreement and the reimposition of US sanctions against Tehran.

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Iran admits breach of nuclear deal discovered by UN inspectorate

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Iran uses advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges in underground plant in breach of 2015 nuclear agreement

Iran has admitted a further breach of the 2015 nuclear deal by firing up advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges installed at its underground plant at Natanz.

The finding was made by the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate, the International Atomic Energy Association, and confirmed by the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA.

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Iran warns of ‘crushing response’ if Trump targets nuclear site

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Outgoing president reported to have looked at military options against Tehran and its allies

Iran has warned of a strong response if Donald Trump goes ahead with plans to use the twilight of his presidency to mount a strike on Iran or its allies in the region.

It was reported that Trump last week looked at options for striking Iran’s main nuclear site, but was dissuaded from taking action after his advisers warned it might lead to a larger conflict in the Middle East. The report was sourced to four US officials by the New York Times.

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Nuclear watchdog head warns Iran over recent detention of inspector

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Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, said he told Iranian officials a repeat of the ‘grave’ incident would be a ‘serious problem’

The new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned Iran there would be serious consequences if there is any repeat of last year’s detention of an IAEA inspector.

Speaking to journalists on his first official trip to Washington as IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi said he had met a senior Iranian official inVienna in December and expressed his concern over what he described as a “grave” incident.

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Iran nuclear deal in jeopardy after latest enrichment breach

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Tehran defiant in face of condemnation by European signatories to joint comprehensive plan of action

The Iran nuclear deal was put on life support on Sunday after Iran took a further step to breach its rules by taking its low-enriched uranium limit over the agreed threshold.

It was the second Iranian breach of the agreement in a matter of weeks, although Iran took only a relatively modest step by increasing enrichment from the agreed 3.7% level – enough to generate to civil nuclear power – to 5%, still well below the 20% threshold that is seen as putting Iran on course to developing a nuclear bomb.

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Trump’s cronies are in secret talks to sell nuclear tech to Saudi. The risks are clear

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The congressional report on this multibillion-dollar scheme provides further evidence of attempts to monetise the Trump presidency

The idea that the US might sell state-of-the-art nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, potentially enabling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reckless regime to build nuclear weapons, sounds so far-fetched as to be almost grotesque.

After all the near-hysterical American and Israeli warnings about the risk of Iran, the Saudis’ arch-rival, acquiring the bomb, surely even Donald Trump would balk at such breathtaking – and dangerous – hypocrisy?

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