The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began reinstalling cameras at certain nuclear facilities in Iran under an agreement the agency reached with Tehran in March.
Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency reached a deal to increase monitoring over the country’s nuclear program, but it is unlikely to quell concerns.
While the two sides must still work out the details that will determine the extent of the agreement’s benefits, any increase in transparency is a positive step that bodes well for international efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran agreed to additional monitoring of its nuclear program and to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) investigation into past activities that Tehran should have declared to the agency. The March 4 agreement between Iran and the IAEA came the agency reported an expansion of Iran's proliferation sensitive activities.
Iran can now build a bomb more quickly than at any point in its history, if it made the decision to do so and undertook the necessary weaponization activity. This risk is amplified by domestic and geopolitical factors that might lead Tehran to conclude that the perceived security benefits of nuclear weapons outweigh the cost it will pay for developing them.
The agency detected uranium enriched to just shy of weapons-grade levels at a facility in Iran but Tehran denied it had decided to increase its enrichment levels.
The United States expressed regret over the UN secretary-general’s failure to initiate an investigation into evidence that Iran is supplying Russia with drones for its war against Ukraine.
With time running out on the Iran nuclear deal, what can be done to reduce the risk of Iran’s nuclear program?
After the censure, Iran ratcheted up uranium-enrichment activities, increasing the risk of proliferation.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors passed a resolution censuring Iran for failing to cooperate with the agency's investigation into its past activities. The IAEA also reported that Iran's nuclear program continues to grow as prospects to restore the 2015 nuclear deal diminish.
Iran’s nuclear advances and crackdown on protests added new uncertainties to efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran and the United States came close to agreement in August before new Iranian demands stalled progress.
Talks between the United States and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal stalled over new Iranian demands and appear unlikely to resume until after U.S. elections. The International Atomic Energy Organization also reported that Iran's nuclear program continues to expand.
Iran said it will respond soon to U.S. comments on a final draft agreement.