US and UK say the IAEA report shows Iran inconsistent in meeting obligations

 The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany have said that an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear work shows that Tehran is being inconsistent in meeting its obligations under a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty agreement, an international treaty with the aim to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The four countries issued a joint statement, alleging that Iran was inconsistent in meeting its obligations under NPT. These countries reportedly said, “As stated by the IAEA, this unnotified change is inconsistent with Iran’s obligations under its NPT-required Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.” They were referring to the IAEA report, in which the U.N. nuclear watchdog criticised Iran for making an undeclared change to the interconnection between the two clusters of advanced machines enriching uranium to up to 60 per cent purity at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), an underground uranium enrichment facility in Iran.

The U.N. Agency found the change during an unannounced inspection on January 21 at Iran’s Fordow plant. According to Reuters, IAEA said its chief Rafael Grossi "was concerned that Iran implemented a substantial change in the design information of its Fordow plant.” However, the Iranian authorities claimed that the IAEA’s position on Iran’s nuclear work was not correct.

Nonproliferation experts also warned that Iran has 60% enriched uranium, which can be reprocessed into fuel for at least one nuclear bomb. 

Earlier, the US, the UK, France and Germany condemned Iran’s action to further expand its nuclear programme. Grossi also expressed concern after manmade uranium particles were found at three undeclared sites in the country. 

These issues affected the talks to revive the 2015 landmark nuclear deal or JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). The deal was signed in 2015 by the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and the US), the European Union (EU) and Iran.