Iran intends to start enriching uranium at a purity level five times that which it agreed under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. According to Fars news agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said on 1 January: "Based on a new law passed by the Parliament, we are planning to start 20% uranium enrichment at the Fordow facility," adding that the AEOI had written to the International Atomic Energy Agency informing it of this intention.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö yesterday discussed the use of nuclear energy in support of climate change goals, nuclear verification and possibilities for cooperation in nuclear safety projects in the Arctic. They also discussed strengthening cooperation between Finland and the IAEA, the upcoming Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and nuclear verification in Iran, including the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plans of Action.

Iran has begun a new stage of uranium enrichment activities, the country’s permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna said in an interview with IRNA on 22 November. Kazem Gharibabadi said that, during the discussion of Iran at the recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Directors, France, Germany and the UK - the E3 countries - "had expressed regret" over the USA's withdrawal in May 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the reimposition of economic sanctions against Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran is feeding uranium hexafluoride into a recently installed cascade of 174 IR-2M centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz. France, Germany and the UK - the E3 - warned yesterday that Iran's further violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were "hollowing out" core non-proliferation benefits of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The European Union has expressed its "resolute commitment to and continued support for" the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors. It expressed concern about Iran's continued accumulation of low enriched uranium in excess of JCPoA thresholds.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the first time since his appointment as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi spoke of the global impact of COVID-19 and climate change, as well as of the role of nuclear technologies in tackling these and other development challenges.

The Iranian parliament yesterday approved a bill requiring the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran to produce at least 120 kg of 20% enriched uranium annually at the Fordow nuclear site, FARS news agency reports. AEOI is required to start this process within two months and store the enriched uranium inside the country.

The lifting of economic sanctions against Iran remains an essential part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) and its signatories are committed to expanding the special purpose vehicle that enables European businesses to maintain trade with the country, according to the European Commission's foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is unlikely to be improved or replaced before the US president is sworn in early next year, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday. Raab was responding to questions from the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee in a session held to discuss the work of the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

A project to remove the last remaining batch of unirradiated highly enriched uranium fuel from Kazakhstan has been completed in a joint effort by Kazakhstan and the USA, the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has announced. The two nations have also signed a new joint statement reaffirming their intention to continue to work together to support the common goal of minimising nuclear proliferation, ensuring nuclear security and strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
 

The fight against the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the important role the International Atomic Energy Agency plays in the major crises the world faces, its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said today in his opening address to the 64th regular session of the IAEA General Conference. These remarks were in addition to his formal statement published by the agency while he was speaking to the conference's participants, both those present at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna and those watching via livestreaming of the event.

The IAEA continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement, and evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities continue, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today in his opening address to the 64th regular session of IAEA General Conference.