Iran’s nuclear programme is ‘galloping ahead’, IAEA chief says

MADRID (HRNW) – Iran s nuclear programme is “galloping ahead” and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Spain s El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

In June, Iran began removing essentially all the agency s monitoring equipment, installed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Grossi said at the time this could deal a “fatal blow” to chances of reviving the deal following 2018 s pullout by the United States. read more

“The bottom line is that for almost five weeks I have had very limited visibility, with a nuclear programme that is galloping ahead and, therefore, if there is an agreement, it is going to be very difficult for me to reconstruct the puzzle of this whole period of forced blindness,” he told El Pais.

“It is not impossible, but it is going to require a very complex task and perhaps some specific agreements,” said Grossi, who was visiting Madrid.

Grossi said in June there was a window of just three to four weeks to restore at least some of the monitoring that was being scrapped before the IAEA lost the ability to piece together Iran s most important nuclear activities.