BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 30. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is clearly superseded at this point, said Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Trend reports.
"2025 almost is ten years after that agreement was signed. So, Iran has now much faster, more efficient, more performing centrifuges. Iran has more facilities producing the parts of those. It's developing, and constructing new sites where nuclear activities are taking place. So, that agreement is clearly superseded at this point," he said in an interview with Amanpour and Company.
Grossi noted that today Iran does not have nuclear weapons.
"Iran is accumulating vast amounts of highly enriched uranium, and this is something that, of course, draws our attention because no other country, without nuclear weapons, is enriching at these high levels. We are in a trajectory that is not good. We have to persuade Iran to come back to full cooperation with us. But, of course, we are not in a scenario where we have the weapons in that country," he added.
A comprehensive plan for joint action on Iran's nuclear program was implemented between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in January 2016. The US announced in May 2018 that it was withdrawing from this plan and in November of the same year imposed sanctions on Iran. Iran announced in 2020 that there would be no restrictions on Iran in the nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, at the end of 2020, the Iranian Parliament, referring to the imposition of sanctions against Iran, decided to implement the Nuclear Strategic Plan to lift the sanctions. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and Additional Protocol stipulated by the nuclear agreement on February 23. At the same time, the IAEA control mechanism was reduced by 20-30 percent.
The media, quoting the IAEA, reported in February that Iran had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium 27 times more than stipulated in the comprehensive joint action plan. Since the IAEA report of September 4, 2023, the amount of uranium enriched by 60 percent in Iran has increased by 6.7 kilograms to about 128 kilograms.