The UN on Friday warned that its nuclear watchdog has lost its ability to fully monitor Iran's nuclear programme following successive US and Israeli strikes.
Rosemary DiCarlo, undersecretary general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had alerted the UN that it has not conducted “any in-field verification activities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement”.
She said the IAEA had “lost continuity of knowledge across all of Iran's declared nuclear facilities”, leaving inspectors unable to verify the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors, bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate.
The IAEA's June report said Iran remains the only non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty producing uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity. It warned that the agency's year-long loss of continuity of knowledge over declared nuclear material is “a matter of proliferation concern” requiring urgent action.
Inspectors have been unable to gain access to the damaged Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities since the US-Israeli strikes in June last year.
Washington's deputy envoy Tammy Bruce accused Iran of violating both the “substance and the spirit” of the recent Islamabad agreement with the US, saying Tehran had launched cruise missiles and drones against commercial shipping in Omani waters and infrastructure in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar over the past week.
“We made progress in our discussions with Iran with the signing of the Islamabad deal. The door to diplomacy remains open and is our preferred path to resolve concerns related to Iran's nuclear programme,” Ms Bruce said.
But she warned that negotiations could not continue while Iran attacked civilian targets.
“We cannot negotiate while Iran reneges on the basic obligations – simple obligations such as don't shoot at civilian objects,” Ms Bruce said. “If you shoot at civilian objects or ships, we will respond until a final deal is reached and endorsed by this council.”
Ms Bruce urged UN member states to carry out the reinstated UN sanctions on Iran “in good faith”, calling them the Security Council's “most effective, peaceful instrument” for constraining escalation and preserving international security.
Bahrain accused Iran of using diplomacy to ease international pressure while failing to meet its commitments.
“What Iran is doing today is not an isolated development; it is an extension of a negotiation approach that has become accustomed to using agreements as a means of easing pressure while actions on the ground continue in the opposite direction,” Bahrain's UN ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei told the council.
He questioned “how long diplomacy will remain hostage to promises that do not translate into compliance”, adding that “no diplomatic progress will be sustainable without full and transparent compliance with international obligations and full co-operation with the IAEA”.
Mr Alrowaiei also accused Iran of destabilising the region through attacks on states, commercial shipping and maritime routes, as well as support for armed proxy groups.
“The experience has proven that agreements alone are not enough,” he said. “The success of any diplomatic effort remains contingent on the commitment of all parties, especially Iran.”
Russia rejected allegations that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.
“We continue to hear concoctions about a supposed threat emanating from the Iranian nuclear programme,” Russia's deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said, adding that Iranian leaders had repeatedly stated they had no plans to acquire nuclear weapons.
She said the IAEA had never verified any diversion of Iranian nuclear material for military purposes.
Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday that the first six employees evacuated from Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant had begun returning to the facility. Rosatom, which is building two additional reactors at Bushehr, evacuated hundreds of workers after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.
