Iran has promised to cap its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, near the weapons-grade 90%, on the condition that no censure resolution will be issued at the Wednesday meeting of IAEA Board of Governors, Reuters said citing reports by the IAEA to its member states.
The confidential IAEA reports say Tehran has made preparations to cap the stockpile at around 185 kg, or the amount it had two days ago, and also agreed to consider acceptance of the designation of four additional experienced IAEA inspectors.
However, diplomats told Reuters that Western powers are pushing for the censure resolution despite Iran's offer.
The Wall Street Journal also quoted sources as saying that France, Britain and Germany will move forward with the resolution in the Wednesday meeting.
The decision comes despite Iran's threat to retaliate if such a resolution is adopted. "If the IAEA Board of Governors passes a censure resolution against Iran, the Islamic Republic will undoubtedly take reciprocal action and implement new measures in its nuclear program, which they will certainly not like," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the state TV on Saturday.
Unconfirmed media reports in Tehran say Iranian authorities have threatened to "activate a significant number of advanced centrifuges and may inject gas into these centrifuges" if the resolution is passed.
This is not the first time Iran is trying to dissuade the IAEA Board of Governors from adopting censure resolutions. Back in March 2023, Iran pledged the IAEA to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to “implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”
However, Tehran failed to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog and withdrawn the designation of several inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities in Iran under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement in September 2023.
France, Britain, and Germany reportedly attempted multiple times to rally support for a censure resolution at the Board of Governors, but their efforts were blocked by the Biden administration. Finally in June 2024, the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-member board of governors censured Iran for failing to cooperate with the agency.
Sharp rise in Iran's stockpile of nuclear fuel
The IAEA reports to its member states show that Tehran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% had grown by 17.6 kg since the previous report to 182.3 kg as of Oct. 26, which is enough for four nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
While Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic's authorities have in multiple instances suggested that the country may change its nuclear doctrine if needed.
The IAEA Board of Governors' meeting on Wednesday will be the last quarterly Board meeting before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. Trump who withdrew the US from a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, has vowed to restore his so-called maximum pressure against Iran and stop the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.