Iran Rejects 'Lies' About Giving IAEA Significant More Access

Nour News made the statement in a tweet on Sunday, less than a day after the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi held talks in Tehran and reached agreement for closer cooperation and more monitoring.

Nour news said, “The most important result of IAEA director general’s trip to Tehran was achieving a joint template to speed up monitoring cooperation…News about [IAEA] providing access to individuals and to three [older nuclear] sites claimed by the agency, or installing new cameras is a lie.”

This followed Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi’s statement almost immediately after Grossi’s trip that Tehran had not agreed to give access to people.

"During the two days that Mr. Grossi was in Iran, the issue of access to individuals was never raised," Kamalvandi told state news agency IRNA, adding there also has been no deal regarding putting new cameras in Iran's nuclear facilities.

IAEA said Saturday that Iran has given sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment.

The IAEA and Iran issued a joint statement on Grossi's return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors.

The statement went into little detail but the possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing.

"Iran expressed its readiness to ... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues," the joint statement said. A confidential IAEA report to member states seen by Reuters said Grossi "looks forward to ... prompt and full implementation of the Joint Statement".

Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, Grossi told a news conference at Vienna airport soon after landing, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.

But the Nour News tweet is another indication of backtracking by Iran once the IAEA board meeting ends without a damaging resolution for Tehran.

Grossi after his trip said that joint work will begin “very, very soon” to implement the agreements reached, but how soon remains to be seen. Any trip to Iran by IAEA officials to work out the details will certainly not take place overnight and reach a conclusion before the board meeting will be over later in the week.

There is a precedence of Iran inviting Grossi for talks before IAEA board meetings, without any concrete results. Grossi visited Tehran last March but the issue of uranium traces found in older sites was not resolved.

However, Grossi speaking in a joint press conference with Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami on Saturday said talks were taking place in an "atmosphere of work, honesty..."

A joint statement by the two parties pledged to carry out interactions “in a spirit of collaboration, and in full conformity with the competences of the IAEA and the rights and obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the comprehensive safeguards agreement.”

Grossi traveled to Iran just days before the IAEA Board of Governors was set to meet and hear a report about Tehran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

In February it was revealed that IAEA inspectors had come across uranium particles in Iran’s Fordow underground nuclear facility that were enriched to 84-percent purity. Such a high level of uranium purity is just short of 90-percent needed for building a nuclear bomb.

The joint statement Saturday did not directly mention this issue, except saying, “Iran, on a voluntary basis will allow the IAEA to implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities. Modalities will be agreed between the two sides in the course of a technical meeting which will take place soon in Tehran.”

Grossi was quoted by Reuters as saying that technical meetings with Iran will take place “very, very soon.”

The other, long-term unresolved issue for the IAEA, is traces of uranium found at three undeclared Iranian sites dating back to before 2003, after the agency launched an investigation following the revelation of a nuclear archive stolen by Israel and revealed in 2018.

Iran was pressed to provide satisfactory explanations about why there were traces of fissile material at these sites, but so far the IAEA has said Iran’s answers have not been convincing.

“Regarding the outstanding safeguards issues related to the three locations, Iran expressed its readiness to continue its cooperation and provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues,” the joint statement said.

Grossi held talks with Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as with foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Iran began exceeding enrichment levels set by the 2015 nuclear accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2019 after the United States withdrew from the deal and imposed full oil export sanctions.

As the Biden administration expressed its readiness in early 2021 to engage in talks to revive the agreement, Iran announced it would increase enrichment level to 20-percent purity. Later, Tehran began enriching at 60 percent and has stockpiled enough fissile material for four nuclear bombs. It would take just a few weeks to enrich the stockpile further to 90 percent.

Talks to return to the JCPOA lasted 18 months but reached a deadlock in September 2022. Iran now feels isolated and under pressure as its weapons supplies to Russia and a deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests have led to more Western sanctions and unwillingness to continue the talks.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday that talks were ongoing with the Iranian side on two sets of important matters including the science sector. He referred to the large presence of reporters, saying it showed “great expectations” about the important issues between the Islamic Republic and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Rafael Grossi began meetings in Tehran on Friday that diplomats said were meant to push Iran to cooperate with IAEA on answering questions about why traces of uranium enriched to 84 percent were recently found in one of its nuclear facilities and also traces of fissile material discovered in 2019 at some of its older undeclared sites.

Grossi, who was speaking during a joint news conference with Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the talks were taking place in an "atmosphere of work, honesty and cooperation".

But beyond that it was not clear how much progress the two sides have made on the key issues since talks began on Friday.

The official Iranian news website IRNA published a report on the news conference, which revealed very little, except a barrage of questions by local reporters about Israel’s nuclear program and its threats to attack Iranian nuclear installations. From what IRNA said, it appeared Grossi tried to dodge those questions.

ISNA semi-official new website published quotes by Mohammad Eslami, saying, “We expect relations with IAEA and its reports to create trust so that we can establish normal ties despite the actions of those who want to sabotage [good relation].”

Iran is concerned about the quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors next week and the report Grossi will submit about Iran’s willingness to cooperate with the agency, and about the 84-percent enriched uranium. The board has repeatedly censured Iran for lack of cooperation.

Eslami added; “We held talks with this intent and I am certain they will have lasting effects.” He reiterated his previous position that Iran did not have any uranium enrichment beyond 60 percent.

Iran has been exceeding the 3.67 percent enrichment level set by the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) since 2019, after the United States withdrew from the agreement and imposed sanctions. But the excess enrichment had not exceeded 60-percent purity until news emerged in February that IAEA inspectors had detected uranium particles enriched to near 84 percent. It is not clear if the near-weapons grade enrichment was accidental or intentional.

Eslami also referred to a dinner Friday night, where it appears the Islamic Republic did its best to impress Grossi. Eslami mentioned the large number of women present at the dinner and referred particularly to widows of nuclear scientists killed in the past. He claimed that Grossi was impressed.

Grossi also spoke of technical and scientific cooperation with Iran, and sounded happy with the Friday night dinner, according to Fararu website in Tehran, a semi-independent news outlet.

Grossi who will report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors traveled to Iran for discussions over the origins of uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity, which was identified after Iran implemented a new configuration in cascade of centrifuges at Fordow enrichment plant about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital.

Details of the meeting have not yet been released. Iranian officials have remained tight-lipped and Grossi usually speaks to reporters after he leaves Iran. He is also scheduled to meet with President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iran has been exceeding enrichment levels set by the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) since 2019, after the United States withdrew from the agreement and imposed sanctions. But the excess enrichment had not exceeded 60-percent purity so far.

In addition to the new issue of highly enriched particles found, the IAEA also wants full explanation by Iran about traces of fissile material found from older nuclear sites.

Pundits say by inviting Grossi to Tehran ahead of an IAEA board meeting later this month Iran is seeking to prevent another censure resolution at the upcoming IAEA board meeting next week. Tehran wants to avoid further international isolation amid economic problems amid protests that have continued since late September despite the arrest of thousands and the killing of at least 500 protesters.

“We should completely give up the possibility of talks to revive the JCPOA if Mr. Grossi’s report to the board of directors is negative,” Ali Bigdeli, an international relations analyst in Tehran, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) Friday.

Bigdeli added that there are considerable differences between Washington and Tehran over the extent of Iran's enrichment program because Tehran does not want to return to the enrichment levels it agreed to in 2015, therefore, he said, it is quite possible that any agreements in the near future be limited to prisoner exchange, the release of Iran's frozen funds, and respite from some sanctions instead of a full suspension of sanctions.

Other commentators have recently emphasized the urgency of shifting Tehran's foreign policy from a Russia and China axis to a more neutral position and avoid getting entangled in Russia's war on Ukraine. Otherwise, there will be no hope of reaching a deal with the West.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency claims that the 83.7 purity particles found could have been formed due to “unintended fluctuations in enrichment levels”.

Eslami said Wednesday that Iran and the IAEA solved the issue of 84% uranium and that a delegation from the UN nuclear watchdog traveled to Tehran to look into the issue. “It transpired that there were no deviations,” he claimed.

After a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Baghdad on February 22, Amir-Abdollahian said the message from the US side conveyed to him suggested that an agreement to revive the 2015 deal was within reach, while accusing the US of sending “positive diplomatic” followed by contradictory media messages.

The US state department, however, denied sending messages to Iran through Iraq. “Only Iranian officials can speak to why they continue to tell these lies. Iranian officials can repeat their line as often as they want, but it doesn’t change the underlying facts,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a news briefing February 27.

“A revival of the JCPOA has not been on the agenda for months. We have not conveyed any message to the contrary. I can’t speak to why Iranian officials may be trying to deceive the rest of the world,” Price stated.

Mehdi Motaharnia, political analyst, told Nameh News Wednesday that the Iranian officials’ very positive tone aims at preventing further depreciation of the national currency and calming the chaos in the forex market.

The IAEA Director General, Rafael Grossi is visiting Iran this weekend, a move which will have implications globally.

The US Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, announced that the United States would decide its next steps on the back of the visit, to conclude the level of compliance regarding its nuclear obligations.
“We’re in very close contact with the E3 and others around the globe who are concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, and we’ll decide at that point,” Malley said, speaking to at a J Street forum on Thursday.

Much hangs in the balance as the world awaits the results. The US and EU seemingly at odds over whether Iran should be censured at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting next week over traces of 84% enriched uranium detected at Iran’s underground Fordo facility in January.

The Wall Street Journal’s deputy Brussels bureau chief Laurence Norman said Friday that the Europeans will not move to censure Iran at the IAEA board meeting next week without US support. The issue is that he believes the Biden Administration is not inclined to do that.

“Iran tends to react to a censor by escalating its actions, either escalating its nuclear work or further restricting the ability of the IAEA inspectors to keep an eye on what Iran's doing. And I think there's a concern that that could very quickly lead to a crisis, which of course would be a crisis on top of the Russia one,’ he said

“Regardless of what we do, our concerns about Iran exist, and they’re not going away,” Malley said during the J street discussion, citing concerns about the country's lack of cooperation with the IAEA.

"There are still a number of outstanding questions that they have repeatedly refused to answer; [including] the discovery of particles of uranium enriched at roughly 84%. We need some explanation as to that, and we’re… waiting for the IAEA’s…own assessment, and many other issues that the IAEA will raise with them.”
Grossi's short visit which will conclude Saturday night, was instigated by the Islamic Republic, according to an IAEA tweet.

Tehran has shown in the past that it pays attention to the IAEA board meeting and usually makes a gesture of dialogue and diplomatic interaction prior to these meetings, hoping to prevent a damaging resolution.

Malley said it is believed that Iran has made new requests, but the outcome of the visit will depend on the government's transparency, which as yet, Malley said it has "failed to do now for a very long time".

The IAEA recently said it would not drop its probes into the nuclear capabilities of the Islamic Regime and its past nuclear activities including traces of uranium found at previously undeclared sites three years ago.

Depending on the results, a trigger mechanism could be activated, meaning harsher sanctions on the regime.