Iran Suggests Pausing High Levels of Uranium Enrichment to Avoid Censure, Monitor Says

Middle East|Iran Suggests Pausing Its High Levels of Uranium Enrichment to Avoid Censure, Monitor Says

Iran is dangling the possibility of halting its production of near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel in exchange for avoiding formal condemnation for its years of blocking some United Nations nuclear inspectors from doing their jobs, according to atomic experts and a report from the U.N.’s nuclear monitoring arm.

The report, dated Tuesday and circulating privately among member states of the monitor — the International Atomic Energy Agency — says that during meetings the agency held in Tehran on Nov. 14, Iran raised the possibility that it would stop expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched to a purity of 60 percent, very close to the level needed for a weapon.

On Nov. 16, the report added, the monitoring agency verified that Iran had “begun implementation of preparatory measures aimed at stopping the increase of its stockpile” at its two major enrichment sites.

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a private group in Washington that tracks nuclear proliferation, said Iran’s move came amid its “continued lack of cooperation” with U.N. inspectors.

“Now it’s offering to cap its production in exchange for the I.A.E.A. board abandoning its push for a resolution” that would condemn Iran’s lack of cooperation, he said.

The agency’s board of member states is meeting from Wednesday to Friday and will take up the resolution in a vote. If the measure passes, it would lead to a formal, detailed report that could ultimately send the issue to the U.N. Security Council for possible retaliatory measures against Iran.