- Title: Iran, IAEA not seeing eye to eye says director general Grossi
- Date: 2nd December 2022
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (DECEMBER 2, 2022) (REUTERS) MEDITERRANEAN DIALOGUES CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI PANELISTS ON PODIUM AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL, RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, SAYING: ''This seems to be in a difficult place. Why is this? Because the agreement, and we certainly hope for the best, but at the moment does not seem to have the momentum that would be required to be to be back in life, and at the same time we do not seem to be seeing eye-to-eye with Iran when it comes to some obligations they have with the IAEA. As you know, a couples of years ago we saw traces of enriched uranium in places that should have never been any nuclear activity. So we came to our Iranian counterparts asking them what was this, what happened here, where is the uranium, I see that has been here. And we haven't been able to get answers there. So, I'm still hopeful, we are still working with them." AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL, RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, SAYING: ''If we don't get it right, if we do not stabilise the situation here and come to a point where the IAEA can give credible assurances that everything there is in order, then the latency of a big destabilization of the whole region will be there. Iran already the other day informed us that they are tripling, not doubling, tripling, their capacity to enrich uranium at 60% which is very close to military level, which is 90%. Does this mean that director general Grossi saying that they have a nuclear weapon? No. But this is not banal. This is something that has consequences, puts them with an inventory of nuclear material for which it cannot be excluded that this, and I am using technical terminology here, cannot be excluded that there could be another use. And we need to go, and we need to verify, and this is what I'm telling our Iranian counterparts. We need to put this relation back on track.'' AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL, RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, TALKING ABOUT THE ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN UKRAINE, SAYING: ''We stayed, we started assisting, we started stabilising the situation, and we said: is this enough? No, I said we have to protect this plant. No no no no. This is a no go. Who is going to accept that? And look at that, we are almost there. Believe me. We haven't been there, and I may fail. And somebody said do you remember when you went to Rome and you said that you were almost there? I would say that again, because we have to have this optimism of the possible. And now we have a proposal on the table which is aiming, simply put, at stopping the folly of bombing a nuclear power, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. And this is ongoing and of course I cannot reveal everything but I can tell you that I'm engaged and I must engage. Some people say don't talk to that one, you shouldn't. I must talk to this one and that one and whoever is a source of a problem, because this is what we are there (to do). This is where, this is where, that multilateral tool has something to add.'' U.N. OFFICIAL STAFFAN DE MISTURA LISTENING CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 16th December 2022 18:15
- Keywords: IAEA IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi Iran Italy Nuclear Rome Ukraine
- Location: ROME, ITALY
- City: ROME, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001402202122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Iran appears to be at odds with the U.N. nuclear watchdog over information it should be providing regarding its atomic program, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday (December 2).
"We don't seem to be seeing eye-to-eye with Iran over their obligations to the IAEA," Rafael Grossi told a conference in Rome, adding that he was concerned over a recent announcement by Tehran that it was boosting its enrichment capacity.
"We need to put our relationship back on track," he said.
Grossi said he was "still hopeful" Teheran would give an explanation for the unexpected discovery a few years back of traces of uranium traces at three undeclared sites.
A recent IAEA report said Iran had agreed to a visit by the U.N. watchdog in November to start giving long-waited answers. However, the meeting has not yet happened.
The issue of the unexplained uranium particles has become an obstacle in wider talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers since Tehran is now seeking a closure of the IAEA's investigation as part of those negotiations, Western powers say.
Grossi said the talks appeared to have stalled. "At the moment it does not seem to have the momentum it needs to (get) back to life," he said.
He added that he was concerned by Iran's announcement last month that it had begun enriching uranium to 60% purity at its Fordow nuclear plant.
"Iran informed us they were tripling, not doubling, tripling their capacity to enrich uranium at 60%, which is very close to military level, which is 90%" he said.
"This is not banal. This is something that has consequences. It gives them an inventory of nuclear material for which it cannot be excluded ... that there might be another use. We need to go. We need to verify," he said.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear technology is solely for civil purposes.
Talking about Ukraine, Grossi said a deal aimed at safeguarding Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is close at hand.Â
Europe's largest power plant, which was seized by Russia shortly after its invasion of Ukraine, has since come under repeated shelling, drawing condemnation from the IAEA, which has called for a safety zone to be created around the site.
"We are almost there. Believe me. .. Now we have a proposal on the table which simply put is aiming to stop the folly of bombing the largest nuclear power plant in Europe," Grossi said.
"This is ongoing. I cannot reveal everything. But I am engaged," he said.
Earlier on Friday, Russia's RIA news agency said Moscow had outlined its position on the creation of a safety zone around the plant and was awaiting a response, citing the head of the state-run nuclear energy agency Rosatom.
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