The United Nations nuclear watchdog sent a report to member states on Thursday with no significant alterations to its evaluation of Iran's nuclear programme, despite three months of conflict between the United States and Israel aimed at preventing Iran from developing an atomic bomb. In its first assessment since the day before the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, the International Atomic Energy Agency reiterated demands for Tehran to clarify the status of its enriched uranium stockpiles, which have been unaccounted for since a previous bombing campaign a year ago targeted Iran's main nuclear sites.
Background of the Conflict
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly cited the destruction of Iran's nuclear programme as a primary objective in launching fresh strikes at the end of February. Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has been a major sticking point in negotiations between the US and Iran to end the war, with Trump insisting that Iran relinquish it. Recent efforts have focused on a preliminary deal that would defer nuclear issues for later discussions.
IAEA Report Details
The confidential report on Iran was one of two issued on Thursday and reviewed by Reuters ahead of next week's quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors. The reports showed minimal changes from the previous assessments in late February, just before the latest war. The IAEA Director General emphasized to Iran that it is indispensable and urgent to effectively implement the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement and that its implementation cannot be suspended by Iran under any circumstances.
The IAEA has been unable to return to nuclear sites that Israel and the United States bombed last June. Iran has yet to inform the IAEA of the fate of its stocks of low- and highly enriched uranium, including uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, which is a short step from the roughly 90% purity required for weapons-grade material.
