UN Nuclear Watchdog Reports Scant Progress in Standoff with Iran

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
20

UN Nuclear Watchdog Reports Scant Progress in Standoff with Iran

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran has not credibly answered the UN nuclear watchdog's long-standing questions on the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites despite a fresh push for a breakthrough, the agency said in a report seen by Reuters on Monday.

The lack of progress could set up a new diplomatic clash with the West when the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors meets next week. If Western powers seek a resolution criticizing Tehran it could deal a further blow to stalled efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

The fresh quarterly IAEA report detailing Iran's continued failure to provide satisfactory answers raises pressure on the United States and its allies to take action against Iran at the board meeting, since Tehran and the IAEA announced a renewed push in March to clear things up by now.

"Iran has not provided explanations that are technically credible in relation to the Agency's findings at those locations," the report said, adding: "The Agency remains ready to engage without delay with Iran to resolve all of these matters."

A separate quarterly IAEA report seen by Reuters said Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, close to the roughly 90% that is weapons grade and in a form that can be enriched further, is estimated to have grown by 9.9 kg to 43.1 kg.

That amounts to slightly more than what the IAEA calls a "significant quantity", defined as "the approximate amount of nuclear material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded".

A senior diplomat cautioned, however, that in practice it would take more than 55 kg of uranium enriched to 60% to make one bomb because some material is wasted during enrichment.

"As of the moment you enrich you lose material," he said.

Western powers fear Iran is getting closer to being able to sprint towards producing a nuclear bomb if it chose to, though Iran says its intentions are entirely peaceful.



Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 in a Restaurant in Northeast Nigeria

FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
TT
20

Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10 in a Restaurant in Northeast Nigeria

FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)
FILE - Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, northeast, Nigeria, April 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)

A suicide bomber in Nigeria’s northeast state of Borno killed at least 10 people and injured several others in an explosion in a restaurant, police said Saturday.

The blast occurred in the Konduga area late Friday, police spokesperson Nahum Daso told The Associated Press.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Nigeria’s northeast has been hit by attacks carried out by militants from the Boko Haram group and its splinter, the ISIS West Africa Province.

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown militants, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their own radical version of Islamic law. The conflict also has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.

Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the northeastern region, according to the UN.

Despite promises by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address Nigeria’s security challenges, the violence has persisted.