UN Nuclear Chief Ends Iran Trip With Questions Left Hanging

Lieberman was speaking at a security conference on Tuesday where Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Iran is at the most advanced stage of acquiring nuclear weapons and Israel reserves the right to confront Tehran, with or without a nuclear agreement.

Israel, itself widely believed to have nuclear weapons, has long argued that the 2015 deal was too weak to prevent Iran from pursuing a bomb. Former US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, describing it as too soft, and Iran responded by violating some of the deal's restrictions. President Joe Biden's administration aims to revive it.

Israel has also complained that the nuclear agreement does nothing to rein in Iran's ballistic missile program, or hostile activity by Iranian-backed militia.

"The Iranians have encircled the State of Israel with missiles while they sit safely in Tehran," Bennett said. "To chase the terrorist du jour sent by the (Iranian covert) Qods Force does not pay off anymore. We must go for the dispatcher."

Speaking separately, the chief of Israel's air force offered cooperation with Gulf Arab partners against Iranian-made attack drones, a rare public airing of the possibility of joint operations.

Mohammad Eslami said the IAEA chief in their meeting Tuesday had "emphasized repeatedly that no deviation has been observed in Iran's nuclear program".

Government controlled media in Iran immediately began tweeting Eslami's assertion that Grossi admitted there was no deviation in Iran's nuclear program.

Eslami also told reporters that the questions raised by the IAEA regarding the "documents provided to the agency by Iran's enemies" have been answered partly and it was agreed in their meeting to resolve the remaining cases.

Eslami also claimed that the IAEA will not be influenced by "Iran's enemies' insidious infiltration".

Grossi who was listening to a translation of Eslami’s remarks did not directly respond to his assertions.

"The agency is seeking to continue and deepen the dialogue with the government of Iran..., We agreed to continue our joint work on transparency, and this will continue, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told his televised news conference Tuesday.

Grossi who arrived in Tehran Monday evening has previously criticized as inadequate explanations given by Iran over traces of uranium found at two undeclared sites and relating to work carried out before 2003.

But it is still not clear what was decided over IAEA's complaints about Iran limiting access to its monitoring work in its nuclear installations, which was an important aspect of Grossi's visit.

The IAEA chief will also hold talks with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Tuesday afternoon for the first time since his appointment as foreign minister.

In the joint press conference, Eslami also stressed that Iran requires generation of at least 10,000 MW of electricity by nuclear technology and is adamant about its nuclear program.

The official news agency IRNA said in a report Tuesday before the press conference, that the IAEA chief and Eslami would discuss "the establishment of a clear framework for cooperation between the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

The IAEA has issued critical reports saying Tehran has not fully cooperated with its monitors, which could make it more difficult to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement known as JCPOA, under which Iran accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

According to IAEA reports last week, Iran had still not granted IAEA inspectors access it promised two months ago to re-install monitoring cameras at a workshop that was the site of apparent sabotage in June.

The meeting with the IAEA chief is taking place ahead of an IAEA Board of Governors' meeting this week and days before resumption of talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, imposing draconian sanctions on Iran.

Western powers scrapped plans in September for an IAEA board resolution rebuking Iran, after Tehran agreed to prolong monitoring of some nuclear activities and invited IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to Tehran for talks. Grossi is again due in Tehran ahead of the IAEA board meeting.

Bennett’s tough statements come after the Biden Administration in recent weeks has kept in close touch with Israel and its Arab neighbors in the region trying to reduce concerns over its policy of seeking a diplomatic agreement with Iran.

Indirect negotiations will begin on November 29 about reviving the 2015 deal, which former US President Donald Trump withdrew from, deeming it insufficient to shut down projects with bomb-making potential - a view shared by the Israelis and Saudi Arabia.

Iran, which denies seeking nuclear arms, has since the US walkout breached the deal with expanded uranium enrichment, stockpiling more than 200 kilograms of 20-percent and 60-percent enriched uranium. This has brought Iran very close to obtaining the 90-percent enriched fissile material for making a bomb.

Bennett, who took power in June, described Iran in a speech as being at "the most advanced stage of its nuclear program".

While his government has previously said it would be open to a new nuclear deal with tougher restrictions on Iran, Bennett reasserted Israel's autonomy to take action against its arch-foe.

“The mistake we made after the first nuclear deal in 2015 will not repeat itself,” said Bennett. “With all the noise beforehand, from the moment the deal was signed, it affected us like a sleeping pill. Israel simply fell asleep on duty. We occupied ourselves with other things.”

“We will learn from this mistake,” he said. “We will maintain our freedom of action.”

"We face complicated times. It is possible that there will be disputes with the best of our friends," he told a televised conference hosted by Reichman University.

"In any event, even if there is a return to a deal, Israel is of course not a party to the deal and Israel is not obligated by the deal."

A long New York Times piece Sunday reportedconcern among United States intelligence officials over past and possible future Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear program. Since July 2020, several major sabotage attacks, widely attributed to Israel, have hit Iran’s sensitive nuclear facilities.

Bennett voiced frustration with what he described as Israel's smaller-scale clashes with Iranian guerrilla allies.

"The Iranians have encircled the State of Israel with missiles while they sit safely in Tehran," he said. "To chase the terrorist du jour sent by the (Iranian covert) Qods Force does not pay off anymore. We must go for the dispatcher."

Stopping short of explicitly threatening war, Bennett said cyber-technologies and what he deemed Israel's advantages as a democracy and international support could be brought to bear.

"Iran is much more vulnerable than is commonly thought," he said.

With reporting by Reuters, Times of Israel

Spokesman Ned Price told reporters in his daily briefing that Iran’s escalatory nuclear steps, which include stockpiling highly enriched uranium, “will not provide Iran with any negotiating leverage when talks resume in Vienna next week.”

Iran began to violate an enrichment level of 3.67 percent set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2019 when the United States imposed full oil export sanctions. Tehran has been enriching fissile material to 20 and 60 percent with having stockpiled more than 200 kilograms of the material, reducing the time needed to prepare 90 percent pure uranium for a nuclear bomb.

Price dismissed recent demands by Iran that the United States must lift all sanctions now in one step, saying that the Vienna talks are meant to resolve issues related to mutual steps needed for the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal. That is what reportedly took place from April to June when the two sides were discussing which US sanctions should be lifted and when in exchange for Iran rolling back its violations of the JCPOA and moving toward the full restoration of the agreement.

But Tehran in recent weeks seems to be determined to change the nature of the talks to negotiations about first lifting US sanctions. For that reason, Washington and its three European allies (UK, France, Germany) that are members of the JCPOA have been insisting that when the talks resume on November 29, they should continue from the point where they were left off in June.

A reporter asked Price if he had a comment on a New York Times report Sunday that US officials have warned Israel that its attacks against Iranian nuclear targets are counterproductive, enabling Iran to rebuild an even more efficient enrichment system.

Price did not offer a direct comment on the report, but he said, “Look, at the end of the day, the United States and Israel, we share a common objective here, and that is to see to it that Iran is verifiably and permanently prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Price also immediately added that “diplomacy in coordination with our allies and partners – and that, of course, includes Israel – is the best path to achieve that goal.”

Another time-sensitive a key issue is the monitoring of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the UN nuclear watchdog that Iran has restricted since the beginning of the year. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is meeting this week in Vienna while its General Director Rafael Grossi is visiting Iran on Tuesday. The Agency has issued reports strongly criticizing Iran’s lack of cooperation and France last week demanded that the Board of Governors “send a strong message” to Tehran.

In the previous meeting of Governors in September, the US and its allies decided not to censure Iran in what appeared to be an attempt not to scuttle any chance of resuming talks with Iran. It is not clear if the France’s tough stance will carry the day this week, but the State Department spokesman on Monday appeared to be suggesting a ‘wait and see’ approach.

Hossein Marashi, the new leader of the centrist Executives of Construction party has told Etemad Online on Monday, that Iran's nuclear activities have turned into a crisis. Iran's nuclear negotiators will be waiting for orders from the top, Marashi added, meaning that it is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who makes the final decision to choose between improving the country's economy, or continuing his hardline stance.

Marashi, however, reiterated that he is not optimistic about Iran's renewed negotiations with the partners of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), due to start next week.

Stressing on the importance of returning to the nuclear deal, he added that even the ongoing water crisis is an outcome of Iran's unresolved economic crisis that, in turn, is a product of paralyzing sanctions on the country's economy.

Marashi said that negotiations over Iran's nuclear program have been continuing for about two decades and this prolonged process has done irreparable damage to the country’s development. However, he reiterated that the West has the upper hand in the negotiations and Iran needs to find a way out of the crisis through negotiations.

"We all know that the West has double standards about Iran's nuclear program. The West is a liar. However, the West is also powerful," he maintained.

Marashi added that negotiations with the West should be resumed right from the point it was suspended. The talks should have a new momentum and continue with a quick pace so that problems could be solved quickly, he said and suggested that negotiators know the economy is more important than the nuclear program, but they are not the deciders.

Meanwhile, the IRGC-linked Fars news agency wrote in a commentary on Monday that having experienced the obstacles to an agreement with Iran within the US legal and bureaucratic framework, Iran should avoid relying on US laws and regulations in any upcoming agreement over its nuclear program.

The commentary said what those regulations say is the United States' problem and Iran should not be bothered with them. The commentary suggested that the Iranian side should not attach much weight to restrictions the US Congress could apply to any possible agreement.

The commentary further said that it is now clear the American side will offer no guarantees to Iran that would ensure continued commitment to an agreement between Iran and the Biden Administration unless it is endorsed by the Senate. However, the commentary stressed that such an endorsement is highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, the commentary suggested that "none of the solutions offered for the negotiations has any chance for success," and added that it appears that "Iran should solely rely on its own negotiating power and not count on its other partners as all the parties to the JCPOA are obviously united against Iran."

Regardless of this pessimistic outlook, in an interview with proreform agency ILNA, foreign policy analyst Amir Ali Abolfath opined that in the upcoming negotiations starting on November 29, "The United States has no other way but to come up with a common understanding with Iran." He further opined that if the JCPOA is not revived the IAEA will have no safeguards about inspecting Iran's nuclear establishments meaning that Iran will no longer abide by the Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT).

Abolfath also warned that accepting the demise of the JCPOA would mean an essential change to the balance of power in the Middle East, possibly meaning that Iran will continue its nuclear program and produce nuclear weapons.