Iran disappoints IAEA

Iran's nuclear dossier will be the main issue at the session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors opening today in Vienna. The contents of the report prepared by its experts have not yet been made public, but it is already known that the document is negative. It notes “with disappointment” that Tehran “did not meet the concerns of the international community,” which suspects the Iranians of secretly creating nuclear weapons. Moreover, the Iranians are “forging ahead with their nuclear program” in violation of UN decisions. On June 9, the Security Council adopted its fourth resolution, in which it imposed new restrictions on the trade, economic and financial activities of Iranians and prohibited international investment in Iranian uranium mining and enrichment projects.

However, international pressure has not forced Iran to suspend its nuclear program. Moreover, as the IAEA report notes, Iranian authorities “further hampered the agency’s activities by banning some of its inspectors from working in the country.” The document also reports that during the period from May to September, Iran's reserves of low-enriched uranium increased by 15%, to 2.8 tons. With subsequent processing, it is now “theoretically enough to produce three nuclear warheads.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently called on Tehran to “draw conclusions” in connection with criticism from the IAEA.

One of the Washington non-governmental organizations - the Committee on Iran Policy - with reference to Iranian emigrant circles, recently announced that another underground nuclear facility is being built in Iran near the city of Qazvin, 120 km west of Tehran. According to her, it is related to uranium enrichment and is “85% ready.” The British Ambassador to the IAEA, Simon Smith, called for “studying” this information, but the American White House said that it has known about the facility in Qazvin for several years and “sees no reason to consider it nuclear.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently discussed the Iranian issue with representatives of the American expert community, but paid attention not to the nuclear program, but to the situation with human rights. She confirmed that the United States is “trying to help democratic forces in Iran.”

The IAEA will meet all this week and will also discuss nuclear developments in Syria and Israel. The Arab countries and Iran insist on the last point. Last month, Japanese IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano called on Israel to “consider” joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The authorities of the Jewish state rejected this idea, which, however, was not a strict requirement.

Petr ISKENDEROV