E3 Frustrated With Iranian Noncompliance on Nuclear Inspections as Araghchi Backtracks on Agreement With IAEA

Latest Developments

‘Near Zero Oversight’: The United Kingdom, France, and Germany — collectively known as the E3 — issued a sharply worded statement condemning Iran’s refusal to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to its nuclear sites. Less than two weeks after the trio began the “snapback” process of reimposing harsh UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear noncompliance, their statement to the IAEA’s Board of Governors on September 10 warned, “To put it bluntly, there is up to this moment near zero IAEA oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, and there are thousands of kilos of enriched uranium in Iran which the IAEA has not been able to verify for nearly three months. Iran is obfuscating the status and location of this material from the international community, and Iran refused to allow the Agency to verify this stockpile.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Backtracks: The E3’s statement followed Iran’s apparent backtrack on allowing IAEA inspections to resume. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated, “The nature and scope of inspectors’ access will be discussed in due course after Iran submits its reports, and any access will be negotiated at the appropriate time.” Iran has not allowed IAEA inspectors into its nuclear sites since suspending its cooperation with the agency on July 2. In its most recent report, the agency noted that in the wake of the Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities in June, Iran’s overall enriched uranium stockpile was 48 times the limit set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the technical name for the nuclear agreement reached in 2015.
Grossi Underlines Importance of Iranian Compliance: Araghchi’s remarks came despite the reported agreement reached between IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Iranian officials on September 9 to account for nuclear material and resume inspections in Iran, including at the sites that were bombed in June. Grossi stated that the IAEA and Iran had agreed “on practical modalities to resume inspection activities in Iran,” calling it “an important step in the right direction.” Grossi also emphasized that legislation passed in June by Iran’s parliament ending cooperation with the IAEA did not absolve Tehran from its obligation to cooperate with the agency in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

FDD Expert Response

“The E3 rightly note that Iran has had nearly three months to restore IAEA access and submit reporting on its nuclear material. As is typical, Iran uses the IAEA as a tool to make last-minute promises that never materialize, simply to evade penalties. Tehran’s agreement with the IAEA is totally insufficient, lacking timelines and providing vague commitments. The West must hold firm on holding Iran to its nonproliferation commitments and finalize the snapback of UN sanctions before the September 27 deadline.” — Andrea Stricker, Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director and Research Fellow

“We should not be distracted by ever-moving goalposts and Overton window shifts on the part of the regime in Tehran. Iran remains in fundamental breach of its nuclear obligations and commitments. Sanctions snapback must go forward.” — Richard Goldberg, Senior Advisor

“Will Iran provide the necessary access to its nuclear sites on an orderly schedule and meet its obligations as required under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement? And if not, will the E3 commit to holding the line on snapback? More than two decades of nuclear diplomacy with Iran should be sufficient to instill in the IAEA and the E3 an understanding of last-minute attempts by Tehran to avoid pressure and accountability.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow