Iran’s nuclear programme back in spotlight as watchdog holds meet

VIENNA: Tehran’s nuclear programme is back under the spotlight as the UN’s atomic energy watchdog holds its annual general conference and Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi, marks his international debut by addressing the UN General Assembly.

Negotiations to revive a 2015 landmark agreement with world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear power are at a standstill, while Tehran continues to step-up its activities, according to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report.

Under the 2015 deal with Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States, Iran agreed not to enrich uranium above 3.67 per cent, well below the 90 per cent threshold needed for use in a nuclear weapon.

In addition, it was only allowed to have a stockpile of 202.8 kilogrammes in total — equivalent to 300 kilogrammes in a particular compound form. But since May 2019, Iran has announced successive breaches of the deal in reaction to US president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 and the reimposition of harsh sanctions on Iran. According to the latest report, Iran has now amassed a stockpile of 2,441.3 kilogrammes.

The total amount now includes 84.3 kilogrammes enriched to 20 per cent, as well as 10 kilogrammes enriched up to 60 per cent.

In addition, it has started producing uranium metal, “a key material used to make nuclear weapon cores, under a civil use pretext,” according to Andrea Stricker, co-author of a recent report of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security. Under the 2015 deal, Iran promised not to produce the metal. It has also made more progress operating advanced centrifuges — machines used for uranium enrichment — than it had prior to the 2015 deal. “Iran has made irreversible progress on advanced centrifuges and on enrichment including practising multi-step enrichment to shorten the process of moving to weapon-grade,” Stricker said.

Iran denies wanting nuclear weapons, saying its activities are purely for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity and treating cancer patients. Under the 2015 deal, “breakout time” — the time needed to acquire the fissile material necessary for the manufacture of a bomb — was about a year. But with the recent developments it is “much less”, according to a diplomat familiar with the matter. “Enrichment to 60 per cent could be around 99 per cent of the effort to reach weapon-grade, which underscores

the gravity of the situation,” Stricker said. — Reuters