TEHRAN: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is expected in Tehran later Friday for discussions with officials after his agency’s inspectors in Iran found uranium particles enriched to just under weapons-grade level.
The visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency comes with the Vienna-based organization seeking to get Iran to increase cooperation over its nuclear activities.
A confidential IAEA report said uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent — just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb — had been detected at Iran’s underground Fordo plant about 100 kilometers south of the capital.
Tehran denies wanting to acquire atomic weapons, and last week said it had not made any attempt to enrich Uranium beyond 60 percent purity, noting that “unintended fluctuations... may have occurred” during the enrichment process.
The discovery came after Iran had substantially modified an interconnection between two centrifuge clusters enriching uranium, without declaring it to the IAEA.
The IAEA tweeted on Thursday that Grossi would “travel to Tehran for high-level meetings at the invitation of Iran’s government.”
Iran’s Fars news agency said the IAEA director general would arrive in Tehran on Friday evening ahead of meetings planned to be held on Saturday.
A diplomatic source said that Grossi would also meet President Ebrahim Raisi to “relaunch the dialogue” on Iran’s atomic work and to “reset the relationship at the highest level.”
The IAEA chief’s visit comes amid deadlock in negotiations on reviving the 2015 deal that promised Iran relief from biting economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.
These restrictions, including the 3.67 percent enrichment threshold set out in the deal, were intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
However, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then president Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to suspend the implementation of its own commitments under the accord.
Negotiations aimed at reviving the deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — started in 2021 but have been stalled since last year.
Grossi’s visit is being seen in Iran as another indication that a diplomatic approach to resolving the nuclear standoff is possible.
“It is hoped that this trip will form the basis for greater cooperation and a clearer horizon between Iran and the IAEA,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with CNN that “the window for an agreement on negotiations to lift sanctions is still open, but this window will not be open for ever.”
Depending on the outcome of Grossi’s trip, the United States and the E3 — European powers Britain, France and Germany — will decide whether submit a draft resolution censuring Iran to the IAEA board of governors, which is due to convene next week in Vienna.
In November 2022, Iran was criticized for its lack of cooperation regarding traces of enriched uranium found at three undeclared sites.
Grossi’s last visit to Iran took place in early March 2022, and was focused on the three undeclared sites.
The IAEA said Grossi would hold a news conference upon his return to Vienna late Saturday afternoon.
UN nuclear chief heads to Iran after near weapons-grade Uranium find
https://arab.news/ct58y
UN nuclear chief heads to Iran after near weapons-grade Uranium find
- A confidential IAEA report said Uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent — just under the 90 percent needed to produce an atomic bomb
- Grossi would also meet President Ebrahim Raisi to “relaunch the dialogue” on Iran’s atomic work
US officials say Gaza stabilization force will not fight Hamas
- An American two-star general is under consideration to lead the ISF, but no decision has been made, officials said
NEW YORK: International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorized stabilization force, two US officials said, but it remains unclear how Hamas will be disarmed.
Officials said the International Stabilization Force, or ISF, would not fight Hamas.
They said many countries have expressed interest in contributing, and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, its composition, housing, training, and rules of engagement.
There is a lot of quiet planning that’s going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal.
Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson
An American two-star general is under consideration to lead the ISF, but no decision has been made, officials said.
Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war began on Oct.10, and Hamas released hostages, and Israel freed detained Palestinians.
“There is a lot of quiet planning that’s going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
“We want to ensure an enduring and lasting peace.”
Indonesia has said it is prepared to deploy up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks in Gaza.
“It is still in the planning and preparation stages,” said Rico Sirait, spokesperson of the Indonesian Defense Ministry.
“We are now preparing the organizational structure of the forces to be deployed.”
Israel still controls 53 percent of Gaza, while nearly all the 2 million people in the enclave live in the remaining Hamas-held area. The plan — which needs to be finalized by the so-called Board of Peace — is for the ISF to deploy in the area held by Israel, the US officials said.
Then, according to the Trump peace plan, as the ISF establishes control and stability, Israeli troops will gradually withdraw “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization.”
A UN Security Council resolution adopted on Nov. 17 authorized a Board of Peace and countries working with it to establish the ISF.
Trump said on Wednesday that an announcement on which world leaders will serve on the Board of Peace will be made early next year.
The Security Council authorized the ISF to work alongside newly trained and vetted Palestinian police to stabilize security “by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”
However, it remains unclear exactly how that would work.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz noted on Thursday that the Security Council authorized the ISF to demilitarize Gaza by all means necessary, which means the use of force.
“Obviously, that’ll be a conversation with each country,” he told Israel’s Channel 12, adding that discussions on rules of engagement were underway.
Hamas has said the issue of disarmament has not been discussed with them formally by the mediators — the US, Egypt, and Qatar — and the group’s stance remains that it will not disarm until a Palestinian state is established.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday that the second phase would move toward demilitarization and disarmament.
“Now that raises a question: Our friends in America want to try and establish a multinational task force to do the job,” he said. “I told them I welcome it. Are volunteers here? Be my guest,” Netanyahu said.
“We know there are certain tasks that this force can perform ... but some things are beyond their abilities, and perhaps the main thing is beyond their abilities, but we will see about that,” he said.
