Iran Not Fulfilling Nuclear Commitments, Says IAEA Chief
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran is not fulfilling many aspects of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal and the March agreement.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran is not fulfilling many aspects of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal and the March agreement.
In a press briefing on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors session, Director-General Rafael Grossi told Iran International that "Iran has ceased to implement lots of aspects and nuclear related obligations under the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and it's not implementing mutually agreed additional measures under the joint statement of March 4th.”
On Wednesday, Grossi presented his latest report on verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), saying that “Iran’s stockpiles of uranium enriched up to 5%, enriched up to 20% and enriched up to 60% – high enriched uranium – have all increased since we met in September with the increase of the 60% continuing at the same rate as I reported at the time of the last Board."
The European Union’s representative told the IAEA Board of Governors that “the EU remains committed to the JCPOA... to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.” The bloc also implicitly called on the US to return, saying, “The EU calls on all countries to support the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)," the UN document that is the foundation of the JCPOA.
Expressing deep concerns by the successive IAEA reports documenting the alarming acceleration of Iran’s nuclear program “that gravely departs from its JCPOA commitments," the EU said that Iran’s actions have “no credible civilian justification” and “carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran’s intentions.”
The recent IAEA report documented a substantial accumulation of the enriched uranium stockpile and an expansion of nuclear enrichment infrastructure “far beyond JCPOA thresholds for quantity and level of enrichment.”
In June 2022, Iran removed all IAEA JCPOA-related surveillance and monitoring equipment and since March it agreed to put them back on operation, but it has been stonewalling the process ever since. Additionally, Tehran withdrew the designation of several inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities in Iran under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement a few days after securing a prisoner swap with the US that included unfreezing of about $6 billion of its oil revenues blocked in South Korea.
Tehran's move, which the IAEA called "disproportionate and unprecedented", was in response to a call by the United States, France, Britain and Germany at another round of IAEA Board of Governors to give credible explanations on the uranium particles and let the IAEA install more surveillance cameras. So far, the IAEA has had no progress in getting Iran to reverse its so-called "de-designation" in September of the IAEA inspectors. The move effectively barred some inspectors, who diplomats said were from France and Germany and the IAEA said were among its most experienced experts, from working in Iran.
After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and reimposition of sanctions in 2018, Iran has accelerated its enrichment pace and stockpiling load, using them as bargaining chips to get concessions from the West. Iran did not agree to a compromise plan proposed by the European Union in 2022 to revive the agreement, despite the Biden administration’s stated goal of finding a diplomatic solution.Washington has informally relaxed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and allowed blocked funds in Iraq and South Korea to be released, but Tehran has shown no willingness to resolve the nuclear issue.
When it comes to nuclear commitments, Iran does not abide by rules but when a sunset clause of the same 2015 accord comes, Iran is there to reap the harvest. In October, the United Nations’ checks and balances on Iran’s missile program expired, enabling a newly emboldened Iran to legally supply Russia with arms for the invasion of Ukraine as its global reign of terror continues even less abated.
Hundreds of police participated in the operations which were carried out in Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the German government officially banned any activity in support of Hamas, which had already been designated as a terrorist group in the country.
Following the ban, the activities of Samidoun, an international pro-Palestinian network, was also declared illegal after its celebrations in the streets of Berlin after Hamas’s deadly onslaught on Israel on October 7 which killed 1,200 mostly civilians and saw 240 more taken to Gaza.
“With the bans on Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of the barbaric terror of Hamas against Israel,” said German interior minister Nancy Faeser in a statement.
"We continue our consistent action against radical Islamists," she vowed, adding that “Islamists and antisemites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here.”
According to Germany’s intelligence sources, around 450 Hamas members live in the country, helping finance the terror group.
Germany has beefed up security measures to protect its Jewish citizens who have been the targets of antisemitic attacks since October 7 as global antisemitism soars amidst the war.
Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the European Union, the US, and many other Western countries.
Iranian lawmakers on Sunday approved legislation that increases the retirement age for men by two years to 62, if they start working at age 20 and pay social security taxes for 42 years. Age of retirement for women has not been altered by the new law and remains 55.
In a statement Tuesday, the coordinating body of the Islamic Labor Councils called the new legislation, which is a part of the seventh development plan law, a severe blow to workers.
The Constitution of 1979 recognizes workers’ right to form unions, but the Islamic government has always been very intolerant of independent unions. In 1985 the parliament passed a law that endorsed Islamic labor councils as an alternative to unions which the government has always tried to bring under its control.
The new legislation has also increased the number of years in employment to qualify for a full pension.
Those who enter employment after the final approval of the new law will have to work for over 42 years to qualify for a full pension, while those currently working will have incremental increases to their required work years.
A person who enters the workforce at the age of 30 after the final of approval of this law, for instance, will have to work until the age of 72 years to benefit from a full pension.
Amid economic hardship and a 50-percent annual inflation rate, it is not just the unions who object to the law, but also the public in general, who see the government move as yet another tactic to force ordinary Iranians to pay for its inefficiency and corruption.
The legislation, which like other laws approved by the parliament has yet to be reviewed and approved by the constitutional Guardian Council, has been very strongly criticized by many including some of the lawmakers.
On Tuesday, Minister of Labor Solat Mortazavi acknowledged that the decision to increase the retirement age and qualification for full pension is primarily aimed at addressing the financial challenges faced by retirement funds. The looming insolvency of many of these funds poses a significant challenge to the government. Mortazavi emphasized that such measures are essential to stabilize the funds, preventing their complete insolvency in the near future.
Iran's Civil Servants Pension Fund (CSPF) is the largest fund in the country after the Social Security Organization with over 1.7 million members.
Critics blame mismanagement and corruption for the several-year-long crisis in pension funds.
In April 2022, for instance, Hossein Amerian, the newly appointed director of the governmental steel industry pension fund, said the fund had incurred a loss of around $400m through mismanagement and embezzlement of former officials of the fund.
The Steel Industry Pension Fund pays the pensions of tens of thousands of workers of government-owned and privatized steel companies.
The Social Security Organization, a non-governmental organization that provides health insurance, pension, and unemployment benefits to millions of members who work for the private sector or are self-employed, has similarly been in crisis for years. The organization covers more than 73 percent of the Iranian population.
Successive governments have driven the Social Security to insolvency by massive borrowings to make up for budget deficits, while Iran sits on one of the world’s largest oil and natural gas deposits.
The government is responsible for contributing of three percent of insurance premiums to the social security fund. However, in October, an official of the organization’s Pension Fund said the government currently owes $ 15 billion to the organization.