Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made some encouraging comments about Iran’s nuclear program during a visit to Tehran on Monday – but as soon as Grossi left, he complained that Iran’s level of cooperation with U.N. nuclear inspectors is “completely unsatisfactory.”
Grossi has been increasingly critical of Iran over the past year. In January, he said he felt as though his agency was being held “hostage” to Iran’s disputes with Western powers.
“It’s a very frustrating situation. We continue our activities there, but at a minimum. They are restricting cooperation in a very unprecedented way,” he said of Iran at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
Grossi was particularly critical of Iran for resuming a fast pace of uranium enrichment after slowing down in early 2023, a “goodwill gesture” that expired very quickly, and for refusing to admit nuclear inspectors from countries like the U.S. and France because Iran has political disputes with their governments.
Grossi warned in January that widespread estimates of Iran having enough enriched uranium to build a single nuclear bomb were incorrect, and the Iranians actually have “enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons.” However, he said that as long as Iran does not actually assemble a nuclear warhead from its surprisingly large uranium stockpile, he does not consider it to be in violation of non-proliferation treaties.
The IAEA chief said in January that “diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy” was the key to resolving difficulties with Iran. Grossi seemed very diplomatic when he was greeted in Tehran by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamavandi.
The chief officer of the AEOI, Mohammad Eslami, said he was excited to meet with Grossi and show off Iran’s entirely peaceful achievements in nuclear energy.
“Well-experienced figures have participated in this summit despite acts of obstructionism, and good articles have been presented. Our goal is that these articles and achievements showcase the level of Iran’s science and technology to the world,” Eslami said.
“We are ready to share these technologies with other countries to fight the dominance of arrogant countries so that barriers are broken and a different scientific order can emerge,” he continued, dashing Grossi’s hopes that Iran accepted the post-World War II doctrine of nuclear non-proliferation.
Grossi met with Eslami for a three-day conference in Isfahan, location of Iran’s controversial Natanz uranium enrichment plant. After Iran launched hundreds of ineffectual missiles and drones at Israel last month, Israel struck back and inflicted an unclear amount of damage on the air defenses around Natanz. Israel did not formally claim responsibility for the strike or discuss its objectives, but it was seemingly intended to show Iran that Israel has the capability to penetrate its surface-to-air missile network and hit important targets.
Eslami denounced “hostile actions against the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic” during his farewell press conference with Grossi, prompting the IAEA director to assure him that U.N. nuclear inspections are not influenced by “external parties.”
No sooner was he safely on the ground in Vienna, headquarters of the IAEA than Grossi erupted in frustration at Iran’s lack of cooperation with his inspectors.
Grossi repeated the IAEA’s complaint that Iran refuses to clarify its suspicious activities at two nuclear sites near Tehran, despite promises tendered over a year ago that Tehran would provide complete transparency.
“The present state is completely unsatisfactory for me. We are almost at an impasse and this needs to be changed,” he told reporters.
Grossi said there was no “magic wand” instant solution to the “very, very complex set of issues” surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, but he said Iran needs to “have some results sooner rather than later.”
Grossi said he provided the Iranians with a list of “very concrete, very practical, and tangible measures” that could be quickly implemented to improve compliance. He did not expound on what the Iranians thought of those measures, but he did say he was willing to give them even more room to maneuver because he know Tehran is upset over Israel’s war against Hamas.
“Sometimes, political conditions pose obstacles to full-fledged cooperation,” he said.
Grossi noted that the IAEA will soon prepare its quarterly report on nuclear safeguards, and strongly hinted that the Iranians should implement some of his “tangible measures” before the IAEA board of governors meets to discuss the report on June 3.
The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday chastised Grossi for emboldening Iran by refusing to take stronger measures against it.
Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel was supposedly launched in retaliation for Israel killing Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) terrorist mastermind Mohammed Reza Zahedi with a missile strike in Syria on April 1.
The Jerusalem Post noted that Zahedi was involved in planning the October 7 atrocities, he has a long history of arming anti-Israeli terrorist gangs, and there is no reason to believe he – or his successors – would hesitate to give Hamas a nuclear bomb.
Scoffing at the Biden administration’s notion that it “saved Israel from itself” by pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of authorizing a devastating strike on Natanz, the Jerusalem Post suggested Israel is increasingly nervous about entrusting the IAEA to restrain Iran’s march to nuclear missiles – and increasingly unwilling to trust American administrations to protect Israel from horrific attacks.
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