The IAEA says Iran is upgrading uranium in excess of its pledge under the now-defunct July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and is denying inspectors access to some nuclear sites. Yet Iran has not been operating more centrifuges than were allowed under JCPOA, despite threats to do so (MEES, 6 September 2019), suggesting Tehran’s stated plan of expanding uranium upgrading capacity is not yet being carried out.

In a report ahead of this week’s five-day IAEA board meeting in Vienna, director general Rafael Grossi said Iran’s total low enriched uranium stockpile is 1,021kg, over three times the 300kg limit set out in the JCPOA. “All centrifuges and associated infrastructure in storage have remained under continuous agency monitoring,” the report says. IAEA inspectors “have regular access” to the Natanz and Ferdows plants. (CONTINUED - 978 WORDS)