Agency's Concern Over Iran's Action to Prevent 'Most Experienced' Nuclear Inspectors

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated on Wednesday, November 22, that Iran's prevention of some of the most experienced and specialized inspectors from this UN agency severely undermines the agency's work in Iran. According to Reuters, Iran informed the IAEA in September of this year that it is removing the names of certain inspectors who are allowed to conduct inspections in Iran. At that time, the IAEA stated that while Iran is permitted to do this, the method employed was unprecedented and harmed the agency's activities. Mr. Grossi urged Iran to reconsider its decision. Uranium enrichment is at the heart of Iran's nuclear program, enriching uranium to a level of 60%, which is close to the approximately 90% purity required for nuclear bomb production. According to Reuters, Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but no other country not pursuing nuclear weapons has enriched uranium to this extent. The IAEA did not specify how many inspectors out of over 100 designated for Iran were removed by Iranian officials. Some diplomats say the number of removed inspectors is less than 10, but they are senior IAEA experts in uranium enrichment. One diplomat stated that the number of banned inspectors in the recent wave was eight, all of whom were French and German. He noted that only one enrichment expert remains on the designated team concerning Iran. Another diplomat indicated that the number of other removed experts with necessary knowledge in enrichment is less than five. He stated that the removed experts were 'inspectors who were familiar with Iran's facilities, had been there for years, and inspected the nuclear facilities.' The importance of having experienced inspectors was highlighted in January of this year when an inspector noticed a small but fundamental change in a cascade of uranium enrichment centrifuges. Iran had not informed the IAEA of this change, which in turn led to an increase in uranium enrichment to 83.7%, a record level for Iran's nuclear activities. Reuters reported that the inspector who identified this change was a Russian enrichment expert whose name was recently removed by Iran. A confidential IAEA report stated that Iran has enough uranium to produce three nuclear bombs. The White House stated that Iran's nuclear program will be on the agenda for the meeting between the presidents of the United States and China.