Iran is dangerously close to developing an atomic weapon, warned the International Atomic Energy Agency, hours before the UN watchdog’s chief is expected to leave for Tehran. During his visit, the top nuclear body chief will hold talks with Iranian government officials over recent developments in its top secret nuclear programme.
Rafael Grossi, who heads the IAEA, likened the development of a nuclear weapon to that of solving a jigsaw puzzle. “Iran has all the pieces now, and could well put them together eventually,” he said.
Speaking about Tehran’s nuclear weapons ambition, Mr Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde that “Iran is not too far from having an atomic bomb”.
IAEA, which is an autonomous UN body, is currently tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that fell apart after Donald Trump withdrew from it during his first term as US President. At the time President Trump had called it a “bad deal”.
‘RADICALS CANNOT HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS’
He now wants to completely rid Iran of its military nuclear programme. Just this week, President Trump had asserted that “Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. These are radicalised people, and they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
His remark came shortly after the first round of talks between Washington and Tehran which were held in Oman last weekend.
After the first round of negotiations, US’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who represented America, said that the talks were “positive, constructive, and compelling”. Surprisingly, even Iran’s Supreme Leader said the talks are “going well” so far. Iran however, swiftly sent a top delegation headed by the foreign minister to Moscow to consult the Kremlin.
The second round of talks are expected in Rome, though Tehran is pushing for talks to continue in Oman.
Explaining Washington’s outlook and objectives from these talks, Mr Witkoff told Fox News that “This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization. That includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there. And it includes the trigger for a bomb.”
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Further explaining his point, Mr Witkoff said that for the first time Iran had been offered a specific level of enrichment by the United States. Today, Tehran enriches uranium to up to 60 per cent – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
For their limited, peaceful and civilian purpose, “They (Iran) do not need to enrich past 3.67 per cent,” Mr Witkoff told Fox News, adding that “In some circumstances, they’re at 60 per cent, in other circumstances, 20 per cent. That cannot be.”
“You do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program where you’re enriching past 3.67 per cent. So this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponisation.”
OBAMA DEAL vs TRUMP DEAL
Under then US President Barack Obama, for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Tehran had agreed to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67 per cent – enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. In exchange, Iran received access to frozen funds around the world, and sanctions were lifted on its crucial oil industry and other sectors.
In 2018, when Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, he had highlighted that Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile was one of the main reasons to exit the deal. Adding to that, Mr Witkoff said that “Any deal with Iran would have to include missiles – the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there and it also includes the trigger for a bomb.”
In a post on social media platform X after the first round of US-Iran talks, Mr Witkoff wrote, “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”
