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to export markets passes through it.
Separately, September 2 saw Russia and Iran announce they were planning to hold joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean. TASS news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the matter.
Zarif reportedly said after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Tehran had welcomed a Russian proposal for ensuring security in the Gulf.
2.3 IAEA report ‘states Iran has breached uranium stockpile limit and cap on fissile purity’
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reportedly concluded that Iran has exceeded both a 202.8-kg limit on its enriched uranium stock and its 3.67% cap on the fissile purity to which it is allowed to refine uranium.
In a quarterly report on Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, which Reuters on August 30 said it had obtained, it reportedly said that Iran has accumulated 241.6 kg of enriched uranium and is enriching at around the same level as it was in early July, at up to 4.5%. In a verbal update on July 10, the IAEA said Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile stood at 213.5 kg.
Iran is progressively backing out of the accord, breaching the deal’s limits on its nuclear activities one by one in order to steadily increase pressure on parties who still hope to save the agreement. France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia, along with Iran, remain signed up to the deal. The US unilaterally exited it in May 2018 and then gradually introduced a heavy sanctions regime aimed at throttling the Iranian economy to force Tehran to agree to a tougher nuclear deal.
Iran essentially says Europe’s major powers in particular have done next to nothing to protect its economy from the US “economic war” and wants to see them secure some export waivers on Iranian oil from Washington or provide a credit line in order to persuade Iran’s leadership to stick with the deal.
Iran’s enriched uranium stock is still a fraction of the tonnage it possessed prior to the deal, drawn up to shield Iran from heavy sanctions in return for compliance with measures aimed at keeping its nuclear programme entirely civilian. Its enrichment level is also well short of the 20% it reached before the accord was struck and the approximate 90% that is considered weapons-grade.
Its breaches have therefore not yet made much difference to the time it would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb if it sought one. Iran has threatened to take further steps by September 6. That might include enriching to 20% or restarting mothballed centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.
Reuters said the report also hinted at less than ideal cooperation from Iran, saying: “Ongoing interactions between the Agency and Iran ... require full and timely cooperation by Iran. The Agency continues to pursue this objective with Iran.”
7 IRAN Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com