Iran to UN: No Monitoring Amid War     11/13 06:18

   

   VIENNA (AP) -- Iran told the U.N. nuclear watchdog this month that 
discussions on nuclear monitoring cannot proceed while it is under threat from 
military attacks.

   According to a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy 
Agency, circulated to member states on Friday and seen by The Associated Press, 
Iran insisted discussions on resuming inspections in the country cannot resume 
amid "a series of persistent, explicit, and public threats by the President of 
the United States of America ... to commit further acts of armed aggression" 
against Iran "particularly targeting its nuclear facilities."

   Iran said the situation won't resolve "until the root causes of the present 
situation are addressed and the essential requirements for normal safeguards 
implementation are restored," the report added.

   Iran hasn't given IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites that were affected 
by Israeli and U.S. strikes during the 12-day war in June 2025. The IAEA also 
has been unable to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near weapons-grade 
uranium since the June bombing.

   Iran nevertheless reaffirmed its "firm commitment to resume full 
implementation of its safeguards obligations as soon as the relevant legal and 
actual conditions permit it."

   The U.N. nuclear watchdog said the lack of information about Iran's atomic 
sites and nuclear material is "a matter of proliferation concern" that "needs 
to be rectified with the utmost urgency." The IAEA noted that it is "fully 
prepared to resume its safeguards activities in Iran at short notice."

   Iran also expressed concern in a letter to the IAEA about a recent U.S. 
offer of a reward of up to $20 million in exchange for information on Iran's 
nuclear program. Tehran stressed the importance of maintaining the 
"confidentiality" of the IAEA's activities and the need to ensure that 
information on Iran's nuclear program is not "disclosed, misused or exploited."

   The IAEA encouraged Iran to "consider technical and gradual measures" to 
allow for a return of inspectors to Iran.

   The only facility inspected in Iran by the IAEA since last June is the 
Bushehr nuclear power plant. Inspectors conducted an inspection there on Sept. 
12-15. The reactor currently running at Bushehr uses uranium from Russia 
enriched to 4.5%, a low level needed for power generation in such plants.

   Concern about nuclear site never inspected before 

   The IAEA also expressed "increasing concern" in its report about the Isfahan 
Fuel Enrichment Plant. Iran first informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog about the 
facility last June before the start of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.

   Inspectors were due to visit the site on the day the strikes began but had 
to cancel. The IAEA said in its report that it "does not know" the site's 
"exact location or whether it contains nuclear material."

   Israel and the U.S. launched a 12-day war against Iran last June, carrying 
out heavy airstrikes on its nuclear sites, leaving much of Iran's nuclear 
program in ruins even as the full extent of the damage remains unclear.

   The U.S. and Israel launched further military strikes against Iran on Feb. 
28 with attacks that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and 
other top officials. The strikes targeted Revolutionary Guard command 
facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, and military 
airfields.

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