BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. The US sincerely appreciates the IAEA’s extensive efforts to engage Iran on longstanding questions relating to Iran's nuclear safeguard obligations, said Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, at a briefing, Trend reports.
"We’re going to continue to support Director General Grossi and the IAEA in their efforts. We’ll also continue to consult closely with the E3 and other appropriate partners on this," he said, commenting upon IAEA’s assessment of Iran's uranium enrichment levels.
Patel further emphasized the US commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
"President [Biden] has been very clear that we will go at all lengths to ensure that Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon. But I don’t have an assessment to offer on Director General Grossi’s comments, but we certainly continue to appreciate his efforts to engage the Iranian regime as it relates to their safeguard obligations," he added.
Earlier, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that, although today Iran does not have nuclear weapons, the volume of highly enriched uranium in the country raises concerns.
"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.