Iran Pledges Technology Transfer Amid Tensions Over Nuclear Program

“I proposed a set of concrete practical measures for the revitalization of the 4 March 2023 Joint Statement with aim of restoring process of confidence building and increasing transparency,” the IAEA Chief tweeted after a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The IAEA delegation’s visit comes at a time the agency has admitted to having lost crucial "continuity of knowledge" regarding Tehran’s nuclear activities.

Before his departure, Grossi highlighted the increased accumulation of enriched uranium by Iran, a matter that raises alarms about potential weaponization.

The country is said to be enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the 90% of weapons grade, and has enough uranium enriched to that level to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.

Those concerns, underscored by Grossi’s own admission that the IAEA cannot fully ensure that Iran does not have additional, undisclosed centrifuges, potentially hidden from the agency's oversight.

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami, meanwhile, voiced his hope that despite the media’s “negative” portrayal of Iran’s nuclear program, the IAEA can fulfill its role as an international entity independently, free from political influence and pressure.

Following Grossi’s last visit to Iran in 2023, the two parties issued a joint statement, among which Tehran had promised to continue its cooperation and provide further information and access to address outstanding safeguards issues related to three specific locations. Additionally, Tehran had agreed to allow the IAEA to implement additional verification and monitoring activities on a voluntary basis.

Since then, Iran has reneged on its promises and has deactivated surveillance devices, barred senior inspectors, and refused to disclose new nuclear facilities.

While international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program have continued to mount, Iran has often avoided being censured by the IAEA board for its non-compliance.

Grossi is also likely to attend an Iranian nuclear conference while on his two-day tour in Iran – sparking criticism.

“Such a visit risks legitimizing Tehran’s development of nuclear technology outside IAEA safeguards and Iran’s provocative nuclear advances, while minimizing the regime’s non-compliance with its nonproliferation obligations," nuclear expert Andrea Stricker said.

Grossi is set to attend a conference in Isfahan, Iran next week.

"I am concerned by reports the IAEA Director-General plans to participate in an international nuke conference in Iran next week. This risks legitimizing Iran’s illicit nuclear activity. Focus instead needs to be on holding Iran to account for NPT-related violations," he wrote on X.

The IAEA has confirmed that Grossi’s visit on May 6 aims to engage with officials and participate in the 'International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology.'

The visit comes just days after Grossi said that Iran was "weeks, not months" from acquiring the material needed for a nuclear weapon.

Ties between Iran and the IAEA have deteriorated, with Grossi in February acknowledging a "drifting apart" as Iran becomes defiant.

He also mentioned that the country is still enriching uranium to 60 percent purity at a rate of around 7 kg per month reaching levels close to those used for producing weapons.

Iran's uranium enrichment vastly exceeds the limits of the 2015 JCPOA agreement, which restricted Iran's uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent. Following the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 during former President Donald Trump's administration and the subsequent reimposition of sanctions Iran began to exceed these limits in 2021.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated that the 2015 nuclear pact has essentially collapsed, sparking concerns about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities.

Iran’s ongoing nuclear program continues to pose one of the world's biggest threats to peace. In April, Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced that Iran has significantly moved towards the threshold of being able to produce a nuclear bomb in days rather than weeks.

According to his account on X, Borrell also stressed “the importance of restraint and de-escalation in the region,” which has witnessed intense tensions in recent weeks following tit-for-tat military attacks between Israel and Iran. “I explained EU’s sanctions on Iran’s UAVs and missiles,” Borrell wrote on X in reference to the recent bans against Tehran following the regime’s April 13 missile and drone offensive on Israeli territory.

Further in his conversation with Iran’s top diplomat, Borrell discussed the case of EU citizens who have been detained in Iran, including a Swedish EU representative, one of multiple diplomatic hostages held in Iran.

The call came a week after the European Parliament slammed the Iranian regime’s notorious “hostage diplomacy,” demanding that the bloc “launch a strategy to counter it with a dedicated task force to better assist detainees’ families and effectively prevent further hostage-taking,” according to the parliament’s website.

Last month, Iran's head of the Atomic Energy Organization said plans continue to expand the number of nuclear power plants in the country, aiming to reach a production capacity of 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity.

However, while Iran continues to exceed levels of 60 percent purity for uranium enrichment in the face of global sanctions, the IAEA has admitted no country with plans for the peaceful uses would need to exceed the set levels.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Eslami asserted that “over 130 inspectors are currently permitted to conduct their activities in Iran.”

The statement comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the IAEA, which escalated in September when Tehran opposed the appointment one third of the inspectors.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the time that Iran’s “unprecedented” actions had hindered the agency’s inspection capabilities.

“Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran,” Grossi stated, adding that this impacts the IAEA’s ability to perform effectively.

However, Eslami claimed the barred inspectors exhibited "extremist political behavior," justifying Iran’s decision to ban them.

Grossi recently voiced concerns that Iran is "weeks, not months" away from developing a nuclear weapon capability.

Iran continues to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, nearing weapon-grade levels, far above the 3.67 percent cap set under the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

Since the US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 and the reinstatement of sanctions, Iran has surpassed the agreed limits, leading to declarations from the IAEA that the 2015 deal has "all but disintegrated."

He will attend the International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology during the visit, taking place in Isfahan, just months after officials in Iran claimed to be within reach of nuclear weapons. Grossi just days ago also claimed Iran was “weeks not months” from a nuclear weapon.

Im February Grossi admitted a "drifting apart" in relations between the agency and an increasingly defiant Iran.

Grossi noted in the same month that although the rate of uranium enrichment in Iran had decreased slightly since the previous year's end, Iran continued to enrich uranium at a significant rate of approximately 7 kg per month to 60 percent purity, near weapons grade.

Under the terms of a 2015 agreement with world powers, Iran was only permitted to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent.

However, after former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, Iran exceeded the limits. As a result, the IAEA has stated that the 2015 nuclear deal has "all but disintegrated".