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CAIRO — Iranian, Egyptian and U.N. leaders met in Cairo on Monday to debate Iran’s nuclear program after a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog company stated Iran is additional growing its stockpile of uranium enriched to close weapons-grade ranges.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the top of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, stated the company compiled the report as a result of Iranian’s uranium enrichment was an ongoing concern to the IAEA’s board of governors.
“We hope that by providing the clarification we will be providing an incentive for clarity, an incentive for a peaceful solution and a diplomatic solution,” Grossi stated in Cairo.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, although it was unclear if Araghchi would meet immediately with Grossi. The two spoke by telephone early Sunday.
Araghchi wrote on the messaging app Telegram that he confused Iran’s “continuous cooperation” when he spoke with Grossi.
The confidential IAEA report, which was seen by The Associated Press on Saturday, raised a stern warning, saying Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material,” one thing the company stated was of “serious concern.”
Iranian management believes the IAEA report is politically motivated by Grossi’s hopes to turn out to be the U.N. secretary basic.
Grossi is trying to draw votes of a number of members of the U.N. Security Council with the report, the top of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, instructed the official IRNA information company late Sunday.
“He basically has chosen a political attitude, and this political attitude has led the environment to be more political rather that technical,” Eslami said.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who is mediating the U.S.-Iran talks, visited Tehran on Saturday to present the latest U.S. proposal for ongoing talks. Araghchi wrote on Telegram that Iran is examining the proposal and crafting a response.
The U.S.-Iran talks are an attempt to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, which have strained relations for almost 50 years.
The fifth round of talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Rome last week with “some but not conclusive progress,” al-Busaidi stated on the time.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister published a detailed response Sunday, which rejected many of the report’s findings. Kazem Gharibabadi noted that out of the IAEA’s 682 inspections of 32 states, 493 were carried out in Iran alone.
“So long as a country’s nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s monitoring, there is no cause for concern,” he said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.”
The IAEA report said Iran as of May 17 had amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That is an increase of almost 50% since the IAEA’s last report in February. The 60% enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
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Lidman reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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