UN watchdog confirms Iran’s compliance to nuclear obligations

September 1, 2017 - 20:12

A UN atomic watchdog report said on Thursday that Iran has remained within key limits on its nuclear activities based on the 2015 nuclear deal, internationally recognized as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran’s stock of low-enriched uranium as of Aug. 21 was 88.4 kg (194.89 pounds), well below a 202.8-kg limit, and the level of enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap, according to the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to IAEA member states and seen by Reuters.

The report was the third since the January inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the nuclear agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated” and voiced suspicions Tehran is not fully complying with its terms.

Iran’s stock of so-called heavy water, a moderator used in a type of reactor that can produce plutonium, stood at 111 tons, below a 130-ton limit agreed by the parties to the deal, said the report.

In June, shortly after the IAEA’s last report on Iran said its heavy water stock stood at 128.2 tons as of mid-May, Tehran said it would ship 20 tons abroad, officials told Reuters at the time. Thursday’s report confirmed this has happened.

The 2015 accord between Iran and the 5+1 group (the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) lifted international sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran limiting its nuclear energy program.

The Trump administration has been pushing the IAEA to check military sites in Iran, not just declared nuclear installations, to verify it is not breaching the deal. But for this to happen, UN inspectors must believe such checks are necessary and so far they do not, officials say.