Britain, France and Germany will seek to censure Iran over its lack of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog at its board meeting from Monday despite US opposition, diplomats told AFP.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran is the only non-nuclear weapon state to enrich uranium to 60 percent, while it keeps accumulating large uranium stockpiles.

That is approaching the enrichment levels of 90 percent needed for atomic weapons. It is also well above the authorised 3.67 percent used for nuclear power stations.

Iran has always denied wanting to acquire a nuclear weapon, but the rapid expansion of its nuclear programme has no “credible civilian justification”, said one diplomat who asked not to be named.

Diplomats told AFP that submitting a motion against Iran at the Vienna meeting was driven by an “urgency to react to the gravity of the situation”.

The planned resolution comes after the IAEA board passed the last one of its kind in November 2022.

Even though Iran continued to significantly ramp up its nuclear programme since then, the IAEA’s board has refrained from a censure.

Source » barrons