Iran Has Crossed all Red Lines Towards the Atomic Bomb, Says UN to Folha

Head of nuclear agency says the US and allies act as if the problem doesn't exist

São Paulo

The international community, led by the United States, is passively witnessing Iran crossing the red lines set by its adversaries towards the production of an atomic bomb.

This is the assessment of Rafael Grossi, director-general of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). He is responsible for mediating negotiations aimed at preventing the ayatollahs' regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.

(230305) -- TEHRAN, March 5, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) meets with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2023. (Iranian Presidential Website/Handout via Xinhua)

"Just because you don't look at the problem doesn't mean it disappears. The issue persists, and Iran has been enriching uranium at high levels," says the Argentine in a conversation with Folha.

"The situation with Iran is very frustrating. There's a reduction in visibility [of the problem] that began in 2021. I took measures to mitigate it, but they were only partially successful," he says.

For the past two and a half years, the access of IAEA inspectors within the scope of the 2015 nuclear deal has been virtually cut off, with occasional exceptions. That arrangement had been led by the US under the government of Barack Obama but was broken by Donald Trump in 2018.

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