A note from the Council of Governors formally calls Iran to order. The text was approved by 20 of the 35 countries that make up the Council, Russia and China opposed it and another 12 countries abstained. The Iranian diplomatic mission to the UN speaks of a “hasty and reckless” decision. One of the critical points has been the prohibition of entry for inspectors.
Tehran () – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) takes a tough position, at least at a formal level, against Tehran. Indeed, yesterday the Council of Governors adopted a resolution formally calling the Islamic Republic to order, following its lack of cooperation in the area of accelerating its nuclear program. The document, presented by London, Paris and Berlin, was approved by 20 of the 35 countries that make up the Council, according to some diplomatic sources. Initially the United States would have wanted to abstain, at least in the first stage, for fear of a new escalation in the Middle East; Russia and China voted against the document, while 12 other countries abstained.
The Iranian mission to the UN responded with a strong condemnation of the resolution, which it described as “hasty and reckless,” according to state television. “The decision of Western countries – says the note from the diplomats of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations – has been hasty and reckless and will undoubtedly have a detrimental impact on the process of diplomatic engagement and constructive cooperation (between Tehran and the opposing parties).
The IAEA addressed Tehran in an unusually harsh tone, also calling for the lifting of the ban on entry and inspection of nuclear facilities by some inspectors, even though there remains great concern about a possible escalation on the atomic bomb front. The resolution follows a previous one, passed 18 months ago, that ordered Iran to collaborate with a years-long agency investigation related to traces of uranium that were found in undeclared sites and reduced from three to two. To these questions, the Ayatollahs’ government has never provided answers that experts could consider satisfactory, maintaining a veil of confidentiality that raises questions about the true purposes of the nuclear program, although Tehran claims that it is for civilian use and not to manufacture weapons. .
However, since the last resolution the list of problems and critical issues that the IAEA must address in Iran has grown, and for this reason it invited satisfactory answers to the numerous unresolved issues that are on the experts’ table. Last September, Iran banned access to many of the IAEA’s top enrichment experts, a move that the agency’s director general, Rafael Grossi, called “disproportionate and unprecedented.” The decision of the Iranian leadership, he added, constitutes a “very serious blow” to the ability to do “its job.”
Grossi himself met with Iranian officials last month in hopes of breaking the impasse over the particle probe and inspectors, but also expanding monitoring to parts of Iran’s nuclear program covered by the 2015 deal with major powers. . However, not even in this case significant progress was recorded.
In recent years, Tehran has progressively violated the terms of the nuclear agreements: the first steps date back to 2019, in response to then-President Donald Trump’s withdrawal in May 2018 from the JCPOA and the reintroduction of the toughest sanctions in history. , which led to the collapse of the Iranian economy. The temporary agreement expired on June 24, 2021 and international diplomacy has been working – until now in vain – on a new agreement, although the current occupant of the White House has maintained the sanctions of his predecessor throughout his mandate. he. However, many questions remain open and unresolved, including Tehran’s inability or unwillingness to explain traces of uranium at three undeclared sites, and little progress has been made in recent years under the presidency of the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi. died on May 19.
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