IAEA inspections increase at Iranian uranium enrichment plant

By Global Watch and AFP | 2024-12-16

Iran confirmed on December 14 that it has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to increase the number of inspections it carries out into the country's nuclear program.

"We have increased capacity -- it is natural that the number of inspections should also increase," the official IRNA news agency quoted the country's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami as saying.

"When we carry out nuclear activities, and where we deal with nuclear materials, changing the scale will naturally change the monitoring level," he added.

"Iran agreed to the agency's request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguards measures at Fordo enrichment plant" south of Tehran, a December 13 IAEA report said.

On December 6, an IAEA report said the Iranian regime was planning a major increase in the production rate of highly enriched uranium.

An updated design of Iran's Fordo plant showed that the effect of the change "would be to significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent," the IAEA report said, adding that production will jump to more than 34kg of highly enriched uranium per month, compared to 4.7kg previously.

Uranium enriched to 60% brings it closer to the 90% needed to make a nuclear weapon.

Global security threat

Iran's nuclear ambitions pose a major global security threat even after setbacks dealt to Hamas and Hizbullah, UK foreign intelligence chief Richard Moore said November 29.

"Iran's allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows," he said. "But the regime's nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us."

Moore added that "the Iranian regime maintains its efforts to eliminate dissidents at home and abroad."

Critics fear Iran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon -- a claim it has repeatedly denied.

In their statement, the United States, Britain, France and Germany welcomed the adoption of the IAEA resolution, saying it was in response to Iran's "continued failure" to cooperate with the watchdog in a timely manner.

The resolution says it is "essential and urgent" for Iran to "act to fulfill its legal obligations" under the Non-Proliferation Treaty ratified in 1970.

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