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Rafael Grossi, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency spoke to CGTN Europe. He emphasized the urgency of resuming inspections in Iran to verify the location and purity of nuclear material. This is required for Iran to fulfill its obligations as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Transcript
00:00We all know that this needs to be solved in one way or the other.
00:06We need to get access again.
00:08And I don't think even Iran would deny this.
00:15The problem is that they are not doing it, they are putting conditions, they are coming
00:19up with certain positions which are for us not accurate, but it is absolutely necessary.
00:28Why?
00:30Because after the 12-day war, and with all the consequences that came with it, one was of
00:37course the loss of access for our inspectors in some places, in particular the most sensitive
00:42places, Isfahan, Fordow, Natanz, the places that were hit during this military campaign.
00:52And this coincides obviously with the most sensitive equipment and facilities that Iran
00:58used to have, and importantly the nuclear material, which is still there.
01:03By nuclear material I mean uranium enriched at 60%, which is very, very close to military
01:13level use.
01:14So, this is still there.
01:16We need to ascertain, confirm where it is that it has not been diverted, and we haven't been
01:24able to do that.
01:26Communications have not broken down completely.
01:29And I should say, we are in constant conversation, contact with Iran, in particular myself with
01:36the foreign minister and others.
01:39So we are trying to reconstruct that work, that activity.
01:43Not for the sake of a bureaucratic need that we need to check the box and go back and inspect
01:49it, because one of the reasons that what happened happened, and I'm not passing judgment
01:54on that, but it happened, was because the sense in some places that this was leading to
02:00a military development.
02:02And this has not entirely disappeared.
02:04So, medium to long term, we need to arrive to a framework, diplomatic framework, political
02:13framework, that will provide the stability which is lacking now.
02:17Two questions from that.
02:19So you want your inspectors in there and to be given a free hand, as much as that's possible.
02:24And that is, I say it respectfully, is an obligation of Iran.
02:29I mean, for as long as they want to remain as a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
02:37of Nuclear Weapons.
02:38If they decide otherwise, it's another story.
02:40But you cannot be in a regime, you cannot say that you are a law-abiding citizen and not
02:45pay your taxes.
02:46Let me put it that way.
02:48They have to comply with this.
02:50So, we can reconstruct this relationship on a normal footing.
02:55The greatest nuclear safety risks now, in 2026, after an unusual, extraordinary year
03:03in 2025, but we're seemingly in an even different field again this year.
03:10So, what's the greatest threat in terms of nuclear power, do you think?
03:15Well, it depends on how things evolve.
03:19Obviously, there is one very urgent issue around what is happening between Russia and Ukraine
03:28in the course of the war.
03:30And because of the fact that this Apolysian nuclear power plant is there at the front line,
03:35fourth year of the war, and ever so fragile as in the beginning, we have just now successfully,
03:45I would say, negotiated yet another partial ceasefire between the two sides, so that some essential repair,
03:54so one of the lines that is feeding the plant could be repaired.
03:58It's the fourth ceasefire we have negotiated.
04:00And that says a lot about two things.
04:03About the fragility of the situation there, where there is military activity, ongoing military activity,
04:13putting the safety of the plant at risk, and secondly, for us, the importance of our work there,
04:19and the need for us to be present there, to talk to both, to try to calm things down at certain moments
04:26where there is a very fragile situation.
04:29.
04:36.
04:40.
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