E3 statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on verification and monitoring in Iran in light of UNSCR 2231, June 2021

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom would like to thank DG Grossi for his latest report contained in GOV/2021/28 and DDG Aparo for the Technical Briefing.

As E3 we remain fully committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) which, when implemented in full, is in the collective security interests of us all.

We fully support and are committed to the ongoing negotiations undertaken by all JCPoA participants and the United States in Vienna focussed on facilitating a return of the US to the deal, bringing Iran back into full compliance with its commitments and restoring the benefits of the JCPoA for all.

We remain deeply concerned at Iran’s continued violations of its nuclear-related commitments, including the escalatory steps taken since January 2021. Collectively, these steps present a significant nuclear proliferation risk, have irreversible consequences for Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and undermine the non-proliferation benefits of the JCPoA. It is particularly regrettable that some of these steps have come at a time when all JCPoA participants and the United States are engaged in substantive discussions, with the objective of finding a diplomatic solution to restore the JCPoA.

Iran continues to install technical infrastructure for the production of uranium metal and to produce uranium metal at laboratory scale. In addition, it is enriching uranium up to 60% to produce high enriched uranium for the first time. Iran has thus become the first and only country world-wide to produce 60% uranium in an IAEAsafeguarded facility. These are critical steps for nuclear weapons production and provide irreversible nuclear weapons-related knowledge gains.

Iran also continues to build up its low enriched uranium stockpile and to expand its enrichment capacity.

We urge Iran to stop, and to reverse any action contrary to the JCPoA, to seize the diplomatic opportunity of the Vienna talks, and to return to full compliance with its JCPoA commitments.

In this context, we are deeply concerned by the continued limits placed on the IAEA’s monitoring and surveillance activities in Iran. The temporary technical understanding between the IAEA and Iran in place until 24 June does not diminish the core need for Iran to restore all accesses by resuming its provisional application of the Additional Protocol and reinstating all JCPoA-related transparency provisions in full.

Iran must co-operate fully with the IAEA and grant unimpeded access to all relevant sites and activities to ensure the Agency can continue to fulfil its reporting mandate under UNSCR 2231 regarding Iran’s nuclear-related JCPoA commitments.

In limiting IAEA access, Iran makes it harder for the international community to assure themselves that Iran’s activities remain exclusively peaceful. We know that our very serious concerns at Iran’s actions are widely shared among members of this Board.

The E3 are working intensively with JCPoA participants, and the US, towards the restoration and revitalisation of the JCPoA. We encourage Iran to seize the diplomatic opportunity towards a return to full compliance with its JCPoA commitments to restore the benefits of the JCPoA for all. It is right that this Board keeps the very serious and significant issues addressed today under active review.

We encourage the DG to keep the Board informed regarding progress on monitoring and verification in Iran in all its aspects.

We would welcome that the Agency’s latest quarterly report on monitoring and verification in Iran be made public.

Thank you.