International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi addresses the media during a press conference at Vienna Airport after his return from his mission at the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhya in Ukraine; in Vienna, Austria, Friday, September 2, 2022.
photo: AP/Theresa Wey
The IAEA's concerns over unexplained uranium traces found in Iran are one of the main causes preventing the revival of the 2015 Iran deal.
Western powers are lobbying other states on the UN nuclear watchdog's board to jointly pressure Iran to give the agency the answers it has long sought on uranium traces found at three undeclared sites, diplomats said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
At its last quarterly meeting in June, the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution expressing "profound concern" that the traces remain unexplained due to insufficient cooperation by Iran and calling on Tehran to engage with the watchdog "without delay".
The US atomic watchdog had repeatedly called on Iran to cooperate when earlier the Islamic Republic removed CCTV cameras on its nuclear sites operated by the IAEA.
The Vienna-based IAEA says there has been no progress and no engagement by Iran since then, Reuters said.
Rather than pass a new resolution at this week's board meeting, the four countries behind June's resolution - the US, Britain, France and Germany - have prepared a joint statement reaffirming support for that text, hoping that many other countries will also sign onto it.
"We call upon Iran to act immediately to fulfil its legal obligations and, without delay, take up the (IAEA) Director General's offer of further engagement to clarify and resolve all outstanding safeguards issues," the text seen by Reuters says, referring to the years-long IAEA investigation.
A resolution passed by the Board of Governors carries the weight of a formal decision by the IAEA's top policy-making body that meets more than once a year. Countries banding together to state without submitting and passing a resolution are merely expressing an opinion.
The unexplained uranium traces found at three sites in Iran has become an obstacle in wider talks in Vienna to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal since Tehran is now seeking closure of the IAEA's investigation as part of those negotiations, parties to talks say.
"A French diplomatic source said Paris and its partners were consulting to see how to respond to the current deadlock and prepare the next IAEA board meeting in November," Reuters reported.
The Trump administration left the 2015 Iran deal while Iran gradually lessened its commitments in hopes of the US returning to the deal.