IAEA Chief worried about loss of interest in Iran nuclear case
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday he was concerned the international community was losing interest in holding Iran to account over its advancing nuclear programme.
The comments follow an easing of tensions between Iran and the United States, who announced a prisoner swap last month, according to AFP.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in confidential reports seen by AFP that Iran had made “no progress” on several outstanding nuclear issues.
These include reinstalling IAEA monitoring cameras Tehran had removed from its known nuclear sites, or explaining the presence in Iran of uranium particles enriched to near weapons-grade level.
IAEA Director General Raphael Grossi said on Monday he had noticed a “decrease in interest” from IAEA member states, without naming them.
“There is a certain routinisation of what is going on there (in Iran) and I am concerned about this because the issues are as valid today as they were before,” he told reporters on the first day of the IAEA Board of Governors’ meeting in Vienna.
Diplomatic sources say the United States and the so-called E3 group — France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — have no plan this week to censure Iran for its lack of cooperation with the IAEA.
Instead, at the behest of Washington, they will submit a joint declaration to the IAEA board meeting, which is expected to gain broad support, a source told AFP.
“There are many pressing issues on the international agenda but I think it is important to continue to support the agency in its work,” he continued.