UN Urges Iran to Provide Nuclear Info  11/20 06:13

   

   VIENNA (AP) -- The U.N. atomic watchdog's board of governors urged Iran on 
Thursday to "extend full and prompt cooperation," provide the agency's 
inspectors with "precise information" about its stockpile of near weapons-grade 
uranium and grant access to the country's nuclear sites.

   The development sets the stage for a likely further escalation of tensions 
between the U.N. nuclear agency and Iran, which has reacted strongly to similar 
moves by the watchdog in the past. There was no immediate response from Tehran.

   Nineteen countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member 
board voted for the resolution at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna, according 
to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the 
closed-doors vote.

   Russia, China and Niger opposed it, while 12 countries abstained and one did 
not vote.

   The resolution was put forward by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and 
the United States. A draft was seen by The Associated Press.

   Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty. But it has not yet provided IAEA inspectors with 
access to nuclear sites that were affected by the war with Israel in June.

   The agency also has been unable to verify the status of the stockpile of 
near weapons-grade uranium since Israel and the United States struck the 
country's nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June, according to a 
confidential IAEA report seen by the AP last week.

   According to the IAEA, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 
pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity -- a short, technical step away 
from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

   That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should 
it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned 
in a recent interview with the AP. He added that it doesn't mean that Iran has 
such a weapon.

   Such highly enriched nuclear material should normally be verified every 
month, according to the IAEA's guidelines.

   Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA after the war with Israel. 
Grossi then reached an agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi 
in Cairo in early September to resume inspections.

   But later that month, the U.N. reimposed crushing sanctions on Iran via the 
so-called snapback mechanism contained in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, drawing 
an angry response from Tehran and leading it to halt implementation of the 
Cairo agreement.

   The snapback mechanism reactivated six U.N. Security Council resolutions 
that address Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program, reinstate economic 
sanctions against Iran and contain other restrictions, such as halting all 
uranium enrichment.

   Thursday's resolution instructed Grossi to report on the implementation of 
the reinstated restrictions.

   It also requested that Grossi ensure that his reporting "includes 
information on the verification of Iran's uranium stockpile, including the 
locations, quantities, chemical forms, and enrichment levels, and the 
inventories of centrifuges and related equipment."

   Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western 
nations say Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.

   Thursday's resolution demanded that Iran "acts strictly in accordance" with 
the so-called Additional Protocol that it signed in 2003 but never ratified.

   That protocol grants more powers and oversight to the IAEA, especially when 
it comes to conducting snap inspections at undeclared nuclear sites.

   Iran suspended its implementation of the Additional Protocol in 2021 in 
response to the United States' withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal that 
lifted economic sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran's nuclear 
program.