The governments of France, Germany, the UK and the US noted, in a joint statement on 4 February, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) report that Iran had implemented a substantial change in the configuration of some of its centrifuges without informing the Agency in advance.
These centrifuges produce high-enriched uranium up to 60% and are located in the Fordow enrichment plant, according to these governments.
“We call on Iran to comply with all its legally-binding international obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA and to fully cooperate with the Agency in the application of effective safeguards at Fordow”, they said.
In their view, this unnotified change is incompatible with Iran’s obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement required by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). “Such lack of required notifications undermines the Agency’s ability to maintain timely detection at Iran’s nuclear facilities”, the governments stressed.
They further recall that Iran has ceased to implement its transparency and verification commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and has not offered credible answers to the IAEA’s outstanding questions in the IAEA safeguards investigation. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)