Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi says it would be impossible to get the "genie back into the bottle" now that Iran has achieved 60 percent uranium enrichment
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2021) Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi says it would be impossible to get the "genie back into the bottle" now that Iran has achieved 60 percent uranium enrichment.
"The Iranian programme has grown, become more sophisticated so the linear return to 2015 is no longer possible. What you can do is keep their activities below the parameters of 2015," Grossi told The Financial Times, adding that a "country enriching at 60 per cent is a very serious thing � only countries making bombs are reaching this level."
Grossi specified that commercial enrichment is usually around 2-3 percent, while 60 percent uranium enrichment is almost weapons grade.
The IAEA head said that it is Iran's "sovereign right" to develop its nuclear program, but nonetheless, Tehran's activities require a "vigilant eye."
"You cannot put the genie back into the bottle � once you know how to do stuff, you know, and the only way to check this is through verification," Grossi said, adding that the verification system needs to be "very robust."
In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or the Iran nuclear deal) with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom - plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption. In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran, prompting Iran to largely abandon its obligations under the accord.
In December 2020, Iran passed a law to increase its uranium enrichment and limit UN inspections of its nuclear sites in response to the killing of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
In April, Iran announced that it had managed to reach 60 percent uranium enrichment, after Tehran notified the IAEA of its plan. The decision to increase uranium enrichment came in response to a recent incident at the Natanz nuclear facility that damaged the plant's electricity distribution network - Tehran said the incident was "nuclear terrorism."
