This critical text, the first since June 2020, urges Iran to “cooperate” with the International Atomic Energy Agency, focusing on the case of traces of enriched uranium found at three undeclared sites in the country.
It was submitted “on the night of Monday to Tuesday,” a European diplomat told AFP, information confirmed by several other sources.
The director general of the UN body Rafael Grossi had deplored Monday, at the opening of the meeting of the Board of Governors, the absence of “technically credible” answers from the Islamic Republic.
“I hope that at the end of the deliberations this week, we will commit to solving the problem once and for all because it is not going to go away,” the official told the press.
During the debates on Tuesday in Vienna, London, Paris and Berlin (E3) more broadly denounced “an advanced nuclear program like never before”, and activities “without credible civilian justification”.
– “Counter productive” –
“We strongly call on Iran to stop its escalation and urgently conclude the agreement that is on the table”, they insisted, in reference to the negotiations to resurrect the 2015 pact (known by its English acronym JCPOA). , supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb.
These talks started in the spring of 2021 in the Austrian capital and have been suspended since last March when an agreement seemed within reach.
Washington withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under the presidency of Donald Trump, who considered the text insufficient and immediately reinstated economic sanctions against Tehran.
In response, Iran gradually freed itself from the restrictions it had agreed to impose on its nuclear program.
According to the latest IAEA estimates, it will soon have amassed enough 60% enriched uranium to build a bomb.
“The more the country accumulates knowledge with irreversible consequences, the more difficult it is to return to the JCPOA”, warned the E3 which hopes, through this resolution, to unblock the situation.
The text in fact avoids any firm condemnation in order to leave the door open to dialogue.
Iran – which denies any military aim – for its part castigated an “unconstructive” initiative, and promised an “immediate” response to what it described as “political” action.
China and Russia, the other two states involved in the JCPOA, have also expressed their opposition.
Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov castigated on Twitter a “counterproductive” action, with which Moscow “will not be associated in any way”.
According to diplomats, the vote should take place on Wednesday or Thursday.
