UN agency also confirms Iran’s uranium stockpile has reached 551kg, beyond the 300kg limit laid down in 2015 deal

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has detected uranium particles at an undeclared site in Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its latest report, seen by AFP, on the country’s nuclear programme on Monday: “The agency has detected natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at a location in Iran not declared to the agency.”

The particles are understood to be the product of uranium which has been mined and undergone initial processing, but not enriched.

The IAEA added that it was “essential for Iran to continue interactions with the agency to resolve the matter as soon as possible”.

The agency did not name the site in question, but diplomatic sources have previously said the agency has been posing questions to Iran relating to a site where Israel has alleged secret atomic activity in the past.

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Sources say the IAEA took samples from the site in the Turquzabad district of Tehran in the spring and that Iran has been slow in providing answers to explain the test results.

Monday’s report also confirms that Iran has ramped up uranium enrichment, with its stockpile now reaching the equivalent of 551kg, beyond the 300kg limit laid down in Iran’s 2015 deal with world powers.

A Vienna-based diplomat said the rate of production of enriched uranium had gone up substantially to more than 100kg a month, and could increase further.

The report confirms that Iran is now enriching uranium at its Fordow facility, one of its latest breaches of the 2015 deal.

It makes no mention of an incident involving one of the IAEA’s inspectors two weeks ago which led to Iran cancelling her accreditation. Iran said the inspector triggered a security check at the entrance gate to the Natanz enrichment plant.

Without going into specifics, the IAEA has disputed the Iranian account of the incident and said last week the inspector was briefly prevented from leaving the country, adding that her treatment was “not acceptable”.

However, a diplomat described the incident as an “isolated case” and there is no indication that the IAEA’s access for inspections has been restricted more broadly.

The 2015 nuclear accord has been in increasing danger of falling apart since the US withdrew from it last year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Since May, Iran has progressively breached limits under the agreement, while insisting the steps were reversible if the other parties to the deal helped mitigate the effect of US sanctions.

However, despite Iran saying last week that it was now enriching uranium to 5%, the report said the highest level observed was 4.5%, still higher than the 3.67% laid down in the 2015 deal.

The foreign ministers of the remaining European parties to the deal – Germany, France and Britain – are due to meet in Paris to discuss how to respond to Iran’s latest moves.