An IAEA inspection reveals an irregular change at a uranium production facility, and Tehran replies it’s an inspector’s mistake
France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States have jointly criticized the recent discovery by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the secret modification of Iran’s nuclear facilities for the production of highly enriched uranium and accuse the Iranian government of increase the risk of nuclear proliferation.
In a joint statement, the governments of the four countries say the amendment is “incompatible” with Iran’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, recalling that the production of highly enriched uranium carries significant risks. The IAEA, the UN agency responsible for verifying the peaceful nature of nuclear activities, caught Tehran’s attention on Wednesday after noticing a change in its practice of enriching uranium to 60% at the Fordo underground plant, not noticed before. The agency claims to have discovered “during a surprise visit on Jan. 21 that two cascades of centrifuges were connected in a significantly different way.” Iran said this was an “mistake” by an IAEA inspector.
“Iran’s claims are inadequate,” Washington, Paris, London and Berlin said in their statement. “Iran’s actions are judged based on objective and impartial IAEA reports, not presumed intentions,” they added. Western countries believe that the modification of Iranian facilities is “incompatible with Iran’s obligations” and that “the lack of prior notice will undermine the IAEA’s ability to maintain a rapid investigative capability regarding Iranian nuclear facilities.” endangered.” Fordo has been under close scrutiny since Iran began producing 60% enriched uranium there in November 2022, a threshold well above the 3.67% threshold set in the 2015 deal between Tehran and the major powers .
Source: La Verdad
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