Tehran warns it could expand nuclear program

Iran could expand its nuclear program if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passes a resolution critical of the country, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Saturday. In an interview broadcast on Iranian state TV, he said Tehran was willing to cooperate with the UN atomic watchdog and resolve doubts about its nuclear program, but only if the agency abstained from political pressuring.

Araghchi spoke ahead of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors meeting scheduled for next week. Several board members, including France, the UK, and Germany, reportedly have been advocating for a new resolution aimed at increasing monitoring of Iran’s nuclear sites. Their goal is to compel Tehran to accept new restrictions on its nuclear activities, as reported by Reuters earlier this week, citing diplomatic sources. However, Tehran has repeatedly said it would not cooperate under pressure.

“Our behavior towards the IAEA is completely professional. The agency is a technical body and should fulfill its duties in the technical field, and it does not have the right to enter politics,” the minister said in his interview.

“If a resolution is passed against us, it will face reciprocal actions by Iran. We will take new measures in our nuclear program that they will certainly not like,” he stated, adding that Tehran is ready for both “confrontation” and “cooperation,” depending on the IAEA’s actions. Araghchi said that he conveyed this stance to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during the latter’s visit to the Islamic Republic earlier in the week.

Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have long been perceived by the West as a clandestine attempt to develop atomic weapons, despite Tehran’s persistent denials. The 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers put limits on the country’s nuclear program in exchange for significant sanctions relief. However, that deal collapsed after the US withdrew from it in 2018. Iran has since stepped up its enrichment capabilities, and efforts to revive the deal have so far failed.

According to Araghchi, Tehran is ready to renegotiate the 2015 agreement but only if the West is willing to base a new deal on mutually beneficial terms.

Following his visit to Tehran, Grossi said Iran’s enrichment capabilities are now close to the threshold required for weaponization. He called on both Iran and world powers to speed up talks on the country’s nuclear program, declaring that current regional tensions in the Middle East “show that the space for negotiation and diplomacy is getting smaller.” The IAEA chief warned against attacks on Iranian nuclear installations however, noting that they could have dire radiological consequences for the entire region.