Iran calls for end to investigation into past nuclear activities

Iran has reiterated its demands for an end to the UN investigation into past nuclear activities as part of a nuclear deal. Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into the presence of uranium traces at three undeclared locations should be shelved before the revised nuclear deal is implemented. He said Iran’s view has been sent to EU mediators.

His remarks came after Washington rejected linking the nuclear deal to an end to the IAEA investigation. “There should not be any conditionality between re-implementation of the [deal] and investigations related to Iran’s legal obligations under the Non-proliferation Treaty,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.

This issue, along with guarantees demanded by Iran, could make or break EU foreign policy chief Josef Borrell’s efforts to rescue the 2015 agreement which limits Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Tehran.

In 2019, a year after former US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal and placed punitive sanctions on Iran, Tehran gradually breached compliance by exceeding limitations on enriching and stockpiling uranium and reducing UN monitoring of Iranian nuclear facilities.

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An unnamed US official told Reuters late last month that Tehran had “basically dropped” the plea to end the IAEA investigation and other demands which — along with US demands — have prolonged negotiations for 17 months.

Iran has raised the demand about the investigation ahead of the IAEA’s board of governors’ meeting on September 9th-12th with the aim of avoiding censure for failing to account for uranium particles found in 2019 at sites connected to pre-2003 Iranian nuclear activities. Weaponisation ceased at that time after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled that nuclear devices are banned under Islamic law.

Tehran was furious over the adoption by the board’s June meeting of a resolution critical of Iran over the investigation. As this was the first such resolution in two years and was drafted by Iran’s antagonists — the US, UK, France and Germany — Tehran reacted by disconnecting IAEA cameras monitoring the nuclear sites and by installing advanced centrifuges for purifying uranium.

Mr Kanaani also called for the “strengthening” of US guarantees for the nuclear deal in case a Republican administration takes office. Iran has called for compensation for itself and reparations for foreign businesses if the US aborts the deal in future. It also wants the US to pledge not to reinstate sanctions. The Biden administration has said it can provide assurances only for the duration of its term, which ends in 2025.

US president Joe Biden has come under increasing pressure to scrap the deal from Israel and its allies in Congress. Israel’s hawkish head of foreign intelligence David Barnea is in Washington this week to hold discussions with senior security officials and politicians.