Iran offers to cap sensitive uranium stock to avoid IAEA resolution

VIENNA: Iran has offered not to expand its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, near the roughly 90 per cent of weapons-grade, and made preparations to do that, the UN nuclear watchdog said in confidential reports to member states on Tuesday (Nov 19).
The offer is conditional, however, on Western powers abandoning their push for a resolution against Iran at this week’s meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors over its lack of cooperation with the IAEA, diplomats said, adding that the push was continuing.
During IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s trip to Iran last week, “the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent U-235 was discussed”, read one of the two confidential quarterly IAEA reports, both seen by Reuters.
It added that the IAEA had verified that Iran had “begun implementation of preparatory measures”.
Iran’s offer was to cap the stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent at around 185kg or the amount it had two days ago, a senior diplomat said. That is enough in principle, if enriched further, for four nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
The report said Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent had grown by 17.6 kg since the previous report to 182.3 kg as of Oct 26, also enough for four weapons by that measure.
The second report said Iran had also agreed to consider allowing four more “experienced inspectors” to work in Iran after it barred most of the IAEA’s inspectors who are experts in enrichment last year in what the IAEA called a “very serious blow” to its ability to do its job properly in Iran.
Although the senior diplomat said they could be enrichment experts, diplomats said they could not be the same experts that were barred.
The reports were delayed by Grossi’s trip to Iran, during which he hoped to convince Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian to end a standoff with the IAEA over long-standing issues like unexplained uranium traces at undeclared sites and extend IAEA oversight to more areas.