Iran wants nuclear deal before answering IAEA questions, says Bijan Khajehpour

While fresh evidence of Iran’s continued nuclear activities has set back the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that doesn’t necessarily mean that Iran’s leaders have given up on the landmark nuclear agreement — and the windfall that would come from sanctions relief.

IAEA file reopened. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), issued two new reports to member states on May 30.

• The IAEA reported that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is 18 times over the limit set by the 2015 nuclear agreement. The watchdog said the amount of uranium enriched to 60% has reached 43.1 kg, an increase of nearly 10 kg since March. Experts have said Iran could now enrich uranium to weapons-grade level within a few weeks.

• In a separate report, the IAEA said Iran has yet to explain the presence of undeclared nuclear material detected at three different sites. The Wall Street Journal reported last week on how Iranian intelligence obtained secret IAEA records nearly two decades ago that Tehran used to hide suspected previous work on nuclear weapons.