Iran Press/America: American officials have been ratcheting up pressure at the International Atomic Energy Agency in recent weeks, threatening new sanctions and advocating for more aggressive inspections, according to a report by Bloomberg news agency.
However, the efforts are falling flat, say three diplomats who participated in a meeting convened last week in Vienna.
It’s a rare pushback for the US at the IAEA, whose inspectors have been instrumental getting past UN sanctions applied against Iran. The episode illustrates the rising difficulty American officials face in convincing allies to follow the US on Iran.
The diplomats at the Vienna meeting asked not to be identified in return for discussing details of the private 20 January briefing attended by 70 diplomats assigned to the IAEA, the body charged with verifying the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned in May 2018.
‘Bolton's claims rejected’
The envoys heard details of a claim by US National Security Adviser John Bolton who alleged Iran lied to IAEA inspectors, but most diplomats view Bolton's claim with deep skepticism, and nobody takes Bolton's claim seriously.
“There is a sense that the administration is frustrated that their campaign to renegotiate the deal isn’t working,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Geranmayeh added: “What we see is the US maximum pressure campaign is heating up even further. There has been a concern that the U.S. and some other countries want to precipitate an inspection crisis vis-a-vis Iran, but there’s been resistance to this. The deal’s stakeholders feel they have a good grip on what’s happening in Iran.”
Since the US left, the deal’s remaining powers -- China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. -- have struggled to provide the sanctions relief promised when Iran agreed to nuclear caps. While a European special purpose vehicle designed to protect companies from US sanctions is expected to be ready within days, it’s faced delays and skepticism that it can successfully function.
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said this week that Iran is ready to re-start its enrichment program using more advanced technology if the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) fails.
Iran Abides by Nuclear Limits
Enriched uranium has remained below thresholds agreed under the nuclear deal, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA says snap inspections, as well as three years of rigorous monitoring reports show Tehran has stuck to its side of the bargain. 211 / 101
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IAEA reaffirms that Iran is abiding by JCPOA
