Iran nukesIAEA says Iran has violated terms of nuclear agreement -- again
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Wednesday that for the second time, Iran has exceeded the 130 metric ton threshold for heavy water, which is used to cool reactors that can produce weapon-grade plutonium. In February, the IAEA has cited Iran for the first time for producing more heavy water than allowed by the nuclear deal.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Wednesday that for the second time, Iran has exceeded the 130 metric ton threshold for heavy water, which is used to cool reactors that can produce weapon-grade plutonium.
The agency’s Wednesday report noted that Iran had served notice it would resolve the issue by exporting five metric tons, substantially over the 100 kilogram excess amount. The shipment will be leaving Iran within the next few days.
Voice of America reports that days earlier, the IAEA had raised the issue with authorities in Tehran: “On 2 November 2016, the director general expressed concerns related to Iran’s stock of heavy water to the vice president of Iran and president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, … Ali Akbar Salehi,” the IAEA said in a confidential report obtained by Reuters.
The deal went into effect, and a month later, in February, the IAEA had noted for the first time that Iran had exceeded its allowed limit of heavy water. In February, Iran exceeded the limit by 130.9 tons. Some of the excess amount was shipped to the United States under an arrangement which was criticized by lawmakers in Congress, who regarded the arrangement as a way to facilitate Iranian violations of the nuclear deal.
Analysts note that the IAEA report comes just as Donald Trump has been elected president. During the campaign, Trump called the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated” and said he would “police that contract so tough they (the Iranians) don’t have a chance.”
In a March speech Trump declared that his “Number-One priority” would be to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.”
Republicans opposed the accord, and if both houses of Congress voted to withdraw from the deal, Trump is less likely than Obama to veto the congressional move.
Iran said, however, that Trump will not be able to undo the multi-party deal because, in the words of President Hassan Rouhani, the accord “cannot be overturned by one government’s decision.”
While noting the excessive amount of heavy water produced by Iran, the IAEA said on Wednesday that Iran continued to live up to its side of the nuclear agreement.
