Head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi dismissed Israeli accusations that Iran is preparing to enrich uranium to 90% purity.
Grossi said that IAEA doesn’t have any information about 90% enrichment when he was asked in an interview with France 24 on Wednesday, about intelligence purportedly shared between Tel Aviv and Washington suggesting that Iran is taking technical steps towards 90% enrichment.
“There is no 90% enrichment at the moment in the Islamic Republic of Iran. You have enrichment at 5%, you have enrichment at 20%, you have enrichment of 60% … but we don’t have any information about 90% enrichment,” he replied.
The remarks came as envoys from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries — Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — are engaged in the seventh round of talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, official known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Grossi stressed that both sides are talking about “a return to the original agreement. So, that is their political goal.”
He also rejected allegations that the new Iranian negotiating team may have entered the Vienna talks from scratch, saying, “It seems it is not the case. I think they are trying to build on what was done before… So, we hope they can come to an agreement soon.
“I think a deal is always possible provided that the political will is there. I would say the good thing is that they are not starting from scratch. They have already six rounds of talks. This would be the seventh. So, there is a lot of work that has taken place from the beginning of the year until know. They have been talking about several nuclear specific things including some technical matters and then there is a political discussion about the sanctions … but I can say that lots of elements are there and an agreement would be possible if of course they want to do it,” he added.
The IAEA chief also rebuffed the possibility of an interim agreement under which Iran would halt or slow its uranium enrichment activities in exchange for a partial lifting of US sanctions.
“This is not what I hear from them and I believe the Iranian government has been very firm on … demanding a return to the agreement in full, including for them the rewards that were expected from the original agreement in terms of financial flows, access to markets and a number of incentives.”
Source: Iranian media
