Iran’s nuclear program is “galloping ahead”

Iran’s nuclear programme is “galloping ahead”, IAEA chief says -El Pais

MADRID, July 22 (Reuters)

Iran’s nuclear programme is “galloping ahead” and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Spain’s El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

In June, Iran began removing essentially all the agency’s monitoring equipment, installed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Grossi said at the time this could deal a “fatal blow” to chances of reviving the deal following 2018’s pullout by the United States

“The bottom line is that for almost five weeks I have had very limited visibility, with a nuclear programme that is galloping ahead and, therefore, if there is an agreement, it is going to be very difficult for me to reconstruct the puzzle of this whole period of forced blindness,” he told El Pais.

“It is not impossible, but it is going to require a very complex task and perhaps some specific agreements,” said Grossi, who was visiting Madrid

Grossi said in June there was a window of just three to four weeks to restore at least some of the monitoring that was being scrapped before the IAEA lost the ability to piece together Iran’s most important nuclear activities.

LIMITS

Iran has breached many of the deal’s limits on its nuclear activities since then-U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran in 2018. It is enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade.

Western powers warn Iran is getting closer to being able to sprint towards making a nuclear bomb. Iran denies wanting to.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 deal have been stalled since March.

Western powers warn Iran is getting closer to being able to sprint towards making a nuclear bomb. Iran denies wanting to.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 deal have been stalled since March.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted on Friday as saying his country and the United States were very close to a deal to revive the 2015 accord, but that Tehran needed U.S. guarantees to avoid getting “bitten twice”.

Reporting by Emma Pinedo, additional reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Inti Landauro, Catherine Evans and Gareth Jones