Iran: IAEA Resolves Nuclear Issues Related to Sites With Uranium Particles

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reportedly resolved the nuclear issues with Iran related to a site where uranium particles were found. The issue comes as talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran remain stalled.

On Tuesday, Iranian media reported that the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog had resolved the nuclear issues with Iran. The issues involved one of the three facilities that were being investigated over the presence of uranium particles. A source familiar with the matter told Iran’s Mehr news outlet that the case on the findings of uranium particles with 83.7 percent purity was also closed.

The reports come ahead of the IAEA’s expected quarterly report on Iran that will be published this week. The assessment by the IAEA also comes ahead of the regular meeting of the agency’s 35-member Board of Governors that will take place next week.

The report also comes as talks with Tehran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal remain stalled. The United States withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Iran instead.

On Monday, the Tasnim news outlet reported that 14 members of a “terrorist team” that is linked to Iran’s adversary Israel were arrested in northwestern Iran, according to an Iranian judiciary official. The alleged group was “seeking to identify and assassinate various individuals,” according to Tasnim.

Also on Monday, a female Iranian journalist, Elaheh Mohammadi of the reformist publication Hammihan, faced trial for her coverage of Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked nationwide anti-government protests. Mohammadi covered Amini’s funeral in her hometown of Saqez, where the protests started.

“The trial of Elaheh Mohammadi went well. The date of the next session will be announced by the court,” said Mohammadi’s lawyer Shahbeddin Mirlohi in comments to ILNA.

Along with Mohammadi, another journalist Niloofar Hamedi is also being accused of “colluding with hostile forces” for the coverage of Amini’s death. The charge carries the death penalty under Iranian law. Both journalists have been detained in Evin prison since September, when the protests began.

Hamedi took a photo of Amini’s parents at a hospital where their daughter was in a coma and shared the photo of Amini on Twitter. Iran has blamed its foreign adversaries for the protests.

Photo: Dean Calma (IAEA)/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)