Bagheri Kani: IAEA Resolution Will Not Affect Iran's Nuclear Development

The Iranian Foreign Ministry reacted to the potential use of the trigger mechanism by Europe against Tehran's nuclear program, stating that Iran will act within its "rights and obligations" and that the issuance of a resolution by the IAEA Board of Governors will not impact Tehran's plans for "nuclear development." Nasser Kan'ani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday, June 11, during a press conference regarding the possibility of European countries using the trigger mechanism: "I will not speculate on what Europe intends, but it is natural that Iran will act and will continue to act within its rights and obligations." The trigger mechanism is a provision in UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that allows parties to the JCPOA to request the automatic reinstatement of all international sanctions suspended under this resolution if Iran violates its commitments. According to the trigger mechanism, members of the nuclear agreement can claim that the other party has deviated from its commitments, and thus, after going through a four-stage legal process that lasts a total of 65 days, UN sanctions against Iran will be reinstated. What consequences will the new IAEA resolution against Iran have? On the other hand, the head of Iran's Foreign Ministry, in his speech at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting in Russia, stated: "The issuance of a political resolution in the Agency will have no effect on Tehran's will to continue peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and operationalizing its nuclear development plans." Ali Bagheri Kani emphasized on Sunday that Iran "will continue to cooperate with the Agency within the framework of its rights and obligations under the NPT and the Safeguards Agreement." This comes as Tehran prevented many senior IAEA experts from joining the inspection group last summer, an action that Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the Agency, described as "disproportionate and unprecedented" and a "serious blow" to the agency in fulfilling its mission. Following the issuance of the IAEA resolution against Tehran's nuclear program, Britain, France, and Germany, three European countries that are parties to the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA, detailed Iran's deviations from this agreement in a letter to the UN Security Council. The expiration date of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran and the "snapback" mechanism, which allowed for the imposition of further sanctions against Iran, ends this October. This mechanism in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, established in 2015, allows for the immediate reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran until before October 2025. The three European countries stated in their letter to the UN Security Council that the recent IAEA report deemed the development and advancement of Iran's nuclear program, including the increase in reserves and uranium enrichment levels, as a violation of the JCPOA. The Agency's latest quarterly report indicates that Iran has increased its 60% enrichment level to a point where, if it continues enriching to 90%, it could produce three nuclear bombs. This is while, under the JCPOA agreement, Iran is only allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67%. However, after the United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, Iran gradually suspended its commitments under the nuclear agreement and has now increased its uranium enrichment level to 60%.