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Washington, D.C. — Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken re-iterating his call for the Biden administration to take serious action at the IAEA’s upcoming Board of Governors meeting to address the Iranian regime’s ongoing nuclear provocations. In his letter, Chairman McCaul highlights Tehran’s ongoing violations of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-related commitments and the destabilizing impact of its dangerous nuclear ambitions.

“Even with Iran’s obfuscation, the IAEA was able to conclude that Iran has conducted undeclared nuclear activity, in violation of its NPT-related commitments. While Iran may have taken steps to slightly reduce its stockpile of near weapons-grade nuclear material in recent months, it still retains vast, and ever increasing, quantities of highly enriched uranium sufficient to supply several nuclear bombs…” wrote the Chairman. “The administration must take swift and urgent action to directly address Iran’s ongoing nuclear provocations.”

 

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

 

Dear Secretary Blinken,

I write ahead of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) forthcoming Board of Governors (BOG) meeting next week to renew my call for action in response to Tehran’s ongoing nuclear provocations. If the United States fails to hold Iran accountable for its ongoing violations of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-related commitments, the credibility of the global non-proliferation regime will be permanently damaged, putting the U.S., and our allies and partners, at even greater risk.

Iran continues to undermine the IAEA’s ability to carry out its basic verification and inspection mandate. For years, Iran has failed to provide timely, relevant, and technically credible answers in response to the IAEA’s ongoing probe into undeclared nuclear sites. Longstanding concern around Iranian obstructionism has been further compounded by Tehran’s decision to bar IAEA inspectors’ access to the country and its removal of critical surveillance and monitoring equipment previously installed by the IAEA. As the IAEA itself notes, Iran’s actions have “had detrimental implications for the Agency’s ability to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program”.

Even with Iran’s obfuscation, the IAEA was able to conclude that Iran has conducted undeclared nuclear activity, in violation of its NPT-related commitments. While Iran may have taken steps to slightly reduce its stockpile of near weapons-grade nuclear material in recent months, it still has vast, and ever increasing, quantities of highly enriched uranium sufficient to supply several nuclear bombs. Iran also retains a significant number of advanced centrifuges and has kept in place changes that allow it to reach higher levels of enrichment at even faster rates. This includes changes to centrifuges at Iran’s underground nuclear facility, Fordow, previously used to enriched uranium particles to 83.7% purity—disturbingly close to weapons-grade.

The administration must take swift and urgent action to directly address Iran’s ongoing nuclear

This must go beyond previous censures, including those adopted by the BOG in 2022. The administration must advance a formal finding of Iran’s noncompliance with its NPT-related Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and seek a referral of Iran to the United Nations Security Council at the upcoming BOG meeting. The credibility of the global non-proliferation regime rests on the IAEA’s ability to successfully carry out its mandate, including with respect to Iran’s nuclear program.

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