Iran pledges 'new and advanced centrifuges' after nuclear watchdog censure

By Global Watch and AFP | 2024-11-22

TEHRAN -- Iran said November 22 it would launch a series of "new and advanced" centrifuges in response to a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog that censures Tehran for what the agency called lack of cooperation.

The censure motion brought by Britain, France, Germany and the United States at the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on November 21 follows a similar one in June.

The resolution -- which China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against -- was carried with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions and Venezuela not participating, two diplomats told AFP.

"The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued an order to take effective measures, including launching a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of various types," a joint statement by the organization and Iran's Foreign Ministry said.

Centrifuges are the machines that enrich uranium transformed into gas by rotating it at very high speed, increasing the proportion of fissile isotope material (U-235).

'Legal obligations'

The resolution comes with tensions running high over Iran's atomic program, with critics fearing that Tehran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon.

The confidential resolution seen by AFP says it is "essential and urgent" for Iran to "act to fulfil its legal obligations" under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ratified in 1970.

The NPT requires signatory states to declare and place their nuclear materials under the control of the IAEA.

The text also calls on Tehran to provide "technically credible explanations" for the presence of uranium particles found at two undeclared locations in Iran.

In addition, Western powers are asking for a "comprehensive report" to be issued by the IAEA on Iran's nuclear efforts "at the latest" by spring 2025.

In its national statement to the board, Washington called Tehran's nuclear activities "deeply troubling."

London, Paris and Berlin in a joint statement drew attention to the "threat" Iran's nuclear program posed "to international security," stressing that it now had enough highly enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons.

The resolution comes just as IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi returned from a trip to Tehran last week, where he appeared to have made headway.

During the visit, Iran agreed to an IAEA demand to cap its sensitive stock of near weapon-grade uranium enriched up to 60% purity.

Next steps

In 2015, Iran and world powers reached an agreement that involved the easing of international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

The deal contains a "snapback" mechanism that can be triggered in case of "significant non-performance" of its commitments by Iran.

This mechanism would allow the UN Security Council to reimpose all the sanctions it had imposed between 2006 and 2015 over Tehran's nuclear activities.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi on November 21 warned of Iran's potential next step.

"Iran had announced in an official letter to European countries that it would withdraw from the NPT if the snapback mechanism was activated, and the Security Council sanctions were reinstated," Gharibabadi said in a late-night interview with state TV.

Tehran has since 2021 significantly decreased its cooperation with the agency by deactivating surveillance devices monitoring the nuclear program and barring UN inspectors.

At the same time, it has ramped up its nuclear activities, including by increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium and the level of enrichment to 60%.

That level is close, according to the IAEA, to the 90% plus threshold required for a nuclear warhead and substantially higher than the 3.67% limit it agreed to in 2015.