Paris, Berlin and London associated with Washington are at the origin of a text critical of Tehran's nuclear program, presented during a meeting in Vienna, Austria, at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA ). The text was approved Thursday, November 21, 2024 by 19 of the 35 member states of the IAEA Board of Governors, provoking the ire of Iran, which announced in retaliation the commissioning of “new advanced centrifuges” for its nuclear program.
However, Iran has just announced that discussions will take place on Friday, November 29, with the three European countries. The exact location of these discussions was not specified.
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The Palestinian issue discussed
In addition to this file, Iran will discuss the regional and international situation with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, “including the questions of Palestine and Lebanon”said this Sunday, November 24, in a press release the spokesperson for Iranian diplomacy, Esmaïl Baghaï. Iran is a strong supporter of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, two Islamist movements at war with Israel, Tehran's sworn enemy since the advent of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
Tehran defends the right to nuclear power for civilian purposes, particularly for energy, but denies wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, which Western countries suspect.
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Removing “doubts and ambiguities”
In 2015, Iran concluded an agreement in Vienna with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States to regulate its nuclear program. In return, the text provided for a reduction in international sanctions against Tehran. But in 2018, Donald Trump, then President of the United States, unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement – with which Tehran complied, according to the IAEA – and reinstated heavy sanctions against Iran.
In retaliation, Tehran significantly increased its reserves of enriched materials and raised the threshold to 60%, close to the 90% needed to make an atomic weapon, under the IAEA definition. The nuclear agreement, now an empty shell that negotiations have failed to revive and which will expire in October 2025, capped this rate at 3.67%.
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Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, in power since July and a supporter of dialogue with Western countries, said he wanted to lift “doubts and ambiguities” on his country's nuclear program. Iran thus considers that it has demonstrated “good will” by inviting the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, last week to visit the nuclear sites of Natanz and Fordo, in the center of the country.
