Iran Announces Expanded Nuclear Enrichment After IAEA Rebuke

In a 19-3 vote with 12 abstentions, the IAEA agreed to rebuke Iran for a "lack of cooperation." The vote was driven by the US, UK, and their allies. Russia and China both voted against the resolution, along with Burkina Faso.

The timing of the decision was particularly unfortunately, coming just days after IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s visit to Iran, during which Iran agreed to measures designed to keep their stockpile of high-enriched uranium from growing. Iran also promised to ensure that it’s highest enrichment levels remain 60% or below, which is below the 90% level needed to make weapons.

All that raised hope among officials actually invested in the safeguard efforts. The US-led effort for censure seems, as always, to underscore that Iran cannot take any steps that would satisfy them. Angered by the IAEA rebuke, Iran is promising a response.

A joint statement by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and Foreign Ministry announced they will take new measures, including bringing newer, more advanced centrifuges online. Such moves would of course be reversible, if the international community became more willing to negotiate and comply with the existing P5+1 nuclear deal.

That seems unlikely in the near term. Though the P5+1 deal is nominally still in effect, the US withdrew from it in 2018, after repeated condemnations by President Trump. Since

Trump’s return to office in imminent, it seems unlikely that the administration will be any more willing to make a deal than they were the last time.

Iran is trying to assure that the new measures are only related to enrichment, which again remains well below the level of weapons-grade uranium. The statement issued also assured that Iran will continue with safeguard and technical cooperation with the IAEA, as it had previously agreed.

In the end, the IAEA censure is less about anything Iran is doing than about continuing the narrative of the "Iranian nuclear threat."

That this is the second time this year that the IAEA has voted on such a measure despite there being no real change in Iran’s policy or action.

The US intelligence community has repeatedly confirmed that Iran has not decided to make a nuclear weapon. Seemingly every Iranian earthquake leads hawks to speculate a secret detonation has taken place, however, and the fear-mongering continues.