Wednesday, 25 August 2021 (YJC)_ A journal claimed in a report that international inspectors are developing contingency plans to use if JCPOA talks fail.
Locked out of key facilities in Iran’s rapidly expanding nuclear program, international inspectors are developing contingency plans that might plug knowledge gaps should talks between the Islamic Republic and world powers fail.
Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency are preparing their quarterly safeguards report about Iran’s nuclear activities, which they’ll present to diplomats at a meeting next month in Vienna.
Monitors have been struggling to piece together the full scope of Iran’s atomic work -- which is now enriching uranium close to weapons grade -- since Tehran’s government began restricting access to sites earlier this year in retaliation for U.S. sanctions.
As negotiations in Vienna over removing those penalties and restoring the landmark 2015 nuclear deal stumbled and are yet to resume, Iran then not extend a temporary pact that preserved video and enrichment data captured at critical installations.
Diplomats in the Austrian capital claimed the IAEA could now look to update a separate agreement with Iran that defines the frequency of visits to sites where uranium is processed.
The so-called Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, which Iran has so far pledged to continue honoring, requires countries to permit more access once they’ve breached defined nuclear thresholds.
Iran’s decision to begin producing uranium close to the levels needed for warheads clearly crossed the lines outlined in that agreement, two officials familiar with the talks claimed, who asked not to be identified.