New York: The United Nations Security Council is set to convene a closed-door session on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s increasing stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium, diplomats confirmed on Monday.
The meeting was called by six of the council’s 15 members—France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain, and the United States. These nations are also pressing Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by providing necessary information regarding undeclared nuclear materials discovered at multiple sites within the country, according to diplomatic sources.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the upcoming meeting.
While Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes, the IAEA has raised concerns about Iran’s rapid enrichment of uranium to 60% purity—just short of the 90% threshold required for nuclear weapons. Western nations argue that such high-level enrichment is unnecessary for civilian energy programs, noting that no other country has pursued similar enrichment levels without developing nuclear weapons.
The 2015 Nuclear Deal and Its Fallout
Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal brokered with Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, and China. In exchange, international sanctions on Tehran were eased.
However, the agreement unraveled in 2018 when then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the pact, reimposing harsh sanctions on Iran. Tehran subsequently began scaling back its commitments under the deal.
Also Read | Ukraine Becomes World’s Top Arms Importer Amid Russia Conflict
With Iran’s uranium enrichment program advancing, Britain, France, and Germany have informed the UN Security Council that they are prepared to invoke the “snapback” mechanism, which would reinstate all UN sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Also Read | Private Space Race Heats Up with Two Moon Landings in a Week
However, this option expires on October 18, when key provisions of the 2015 UN resolution linked to the JCPOA come to an end. Trump has instructed his UN envoy to collaborate with allies to reinstate international sanctions on Iran before the deadline.
