bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has detected uranium particles at an undeclared site in Iran, it said in its latest report on the country’s nuclear programme.
The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also confirmed that Iran has ramped up uranium enrichment, in breach of a landmark 2015 deal with international powers.
Britain, France, Germany and the EU said after a meeting in Paris to discuss the situation that they were “extremely concerned” by the latest developments.
The report said the IAEA’s inspectors had “detected natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at a location in Iran not declared to the agency”.
The particles are understood to be the product of uranium which has been mined and undergone initial processing, but not enriched.

The IAEA added that it was “essential for Iran to continue interactions with the agency to resolve the matter as soon as possible”.
While the IAEA itself has not named the site in question, diplomatic sources have previously said the agency has been posing questions to Iran relating to a site where Israel has alleged secret atomic activity in the past.
Sources say the IAEA took samples from the site in the Turquzabad district of Tehran in the spring and that Iran has been slow in providing answers to explain the test results.
Netanyahu claims Israel has found Iran’s ‘secret atomic warehouse’
On Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, the IAEA report said Tehran’s stockpile had now reached the equivalent of 551kg, as opposed to the 300kg limit laid down in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Under that deal, Tehran agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities in return for a lifting of economic sanctions.
But the Islamic republic has said it no longer feels bound by the JCPoA after the US unilaterally pulled out of the accord last year and has reimposed sanctions.
A Vienna-based diplomat said the rate of production of enriched uranium had gone up substantially to more than 100kg a month, and could increase further.

According to the IAEA, Iran is now enriching uranium at its Fordow facility, a development which “the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom and the High Representative of the European Union are extremely concerned” about, the western powers said.
The development “represents a regrettable acceleration of Iran’s disengagement from commitments under the JCPoA, including exceeding the maximum allowed low enriched uranium stockpile and the maximum allowed enrichment limits,” they said in a joint statement.
The IAEA report made no mention of an incident involving one of the IAEA’s inspectors two weeks ago which led to Iran cancelling her accreditation.
Iran said that the inspector triggered a security check at the entrance gate to the Natanz enrichment plant.
Without going into specifics, the IAEA has disputed the Iranian account of the incident and said last week that the inspector was briefly prevented from leaving the country, adding that her treatment was “not acceptable”.
However, a diplomat described the incident as an “isolated case” and there is no indication that the IAEA’s access for inspections has been restricted more broadly.




The JCPoA has been in increasing danger of falling apart since US President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the deal.
Since May, Iran has progressively breached limits under the agreement, while insisting the steps are reversible if the other parties to the deal provide relief to mitigate the effect of US sanctions.
However, despite Iran saying last week that it was now enriching uranium to five per cent, the report said the highest level observed was 4.5 per cent, still higher than the 3.67 laid down in the 2015 deal.
Ahead of the meeting in Paris on Monday of the British, French, German and EU officials, one European source had said that “the window of opportunity for de-escalation is narrowing very seriously”.
Iran and Russia launch new phase in construction of second nuclear reactor
The source expressed concern that the so-called “breakout time” needed for Iran to gain the fissile material had been kept to at least 12 months while the Iranians were abiding by the terms of the JCPoA, but that it was not starting to “come down seriously”.
Iran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful and that acquiring nuclear weapons would be contrary to Islamic principles.


As US naval strike force sails near Iran, Trump faces ‘no easy levers’ against Tehran

Trump warns Iraq against returning former prime minister to power

US aircraft carrier arrives in the Middle East amid tensions with Iran

Iran unveils bloody anti-US billboard as carrier force nears

Iran

Uranium traces detected at undeclared site in Iran, confirming suspicions first voiced by Israel

According to the IAEA, Iran is now enriching uranium at its Fordow facility. Photo: AFP

epa07976713 A handout photo made available by the Iran Atomic Energy Organization shows the gate of Iran's Fordow nuclear facility, in Fordow, Qom province, 06 November 2019. Media reported following president Rouhani's announcement of the country's fourth step in reducing its nuclear commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran will begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 advanced centrifuges. EPA-EFE/HO HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

A handout picture released by Iran's Atomic Energy Organization on November 6, 2019, shows the interior of the Fordo (Fordow) Uranium Conversion Facility in Qom, in the north of the country. - An Iranian official announced that the plant will start enriching uranium at midnight. (Photo by HO / Atomic Energy Organization of Iran / AFP) / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / ATOMIC ENERGY ORGANIZATION OF IRAN" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ===

Iran and Russia launch new phase in construction of second nuclear reactor

An Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Photo: Agence France-Presse

A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows workers on the construction site of a second reactor in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start the works at the facility. - Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power station and is currently running on imported fuel from Russia that is closely monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

US’ Pompeo slams Iran ‘intimidation’ of nuclear inspector as ‘outrageous’

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: DPA

epa07983321 A handout photo made available by the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation shows Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Behrouz Kamalvandi (2-R) talking with local journalists inside of the Iran's Fordow nuclear facility, in Fordow, Qom province, 09 November 2019. Media reported following president Rouhani's announcement of the country's fourth step in reducing its nuclear commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran started injecting uranium gas into 1,044 advanced centrifuges'. EPA-EFE/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Kazem Gharib Abadi waits for the start of a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 7, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

US accuses Iran of ‘nuclear extortion’ as Tehran resumes uranium enrichment at underground Fordow plant

President Hassan Rowhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside Bushehr, Iran, in January 2015. Photo: Iranian President’s Office via AP

A new giant billboard, designed to to mark the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis, covers the facade of a building in the Iranian capital Tehran, on November 4, 2019. - On November 4, 1979, less than nine months after the toppling of Iran's American-backed shah, students overran the embassy complex to demand the United States hand over the ousted ruler after he was admitted to a US hospital. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

FILE - In this June 6, 2018 frame grab from the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting, IRIB, state-run TV, three versions of domestically-built centrifuges are shown in a live TV program from Natanz, an Iranian uranium enrichment plant, in Iran. Iran announced Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, it would inject uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges it previously kept empty under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. (IRIB via AP, File)

FILE - This Jan. 15, 2011 file photo, shows a part of Arak heavy water nuclear facilities, near the central city of Arak, 150 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran announced Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, it would inject uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges it previously kept empty under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. (Mehdi Marizad/Fars News Agency via AP, File)

Iran has breached uranium enrichment cap, United Nations nuclear watchdog confirms

An International Atomic Energy Agency inspector disconnecting apparatus used for uranium production at the nuclear power plant in Natanz, Iran. File photo: AFP

epa07687222 (FILE) - A general view of the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, 21 August 2010 (reissued 01 July 2019). According to Iranian media on 01 July 2019, Iran has passed the limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by exceeding of 300kg that was set in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal made with world powers. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it will file a report. EPA-EFE/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH *** Local Caption *** 50783062

The IAEA flag at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna. Photo: AFP

News

World

Middle East

Europe


The 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme is faltering in several areas, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report



International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it had found uranium traces at an empty site that has not been declared as a nuclear facility by Iran, confirming suspicions first voiced by Israel.


European Union

Diplomacy

Britain

Defence

Uranium traces detected at undeclared site in Iran, confirming suspicions first voiced by Israel

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme is faltering in several areas, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report

The 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme is faltering in several areas, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report