UN, Iran and Egypt meet to discuss Iran’s nuclear program as enrichment continues

By LEE KEATH and MELANIE LIDMAN CAIRO AP Iranian Egyptian and U N leaders met in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iran s nuclear undertaking after the U N nuclear watchdog agency in a confidential assessment revealed Iran is further increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels Related Articles An Israeli strike on Gaza kills Palestinians mostly women and children hospitals say Watch Sicily s Mount Etna erupts in a fiery show of smoke and ash miles high The EU prepares countermeasures if a tariff deal with the US crumbles Ukraine and Russia hold peace talks but make no breakthrough after major attacks After talks with Zelenskyy and Macron US senators warn Putin is preparing for more war The document emerged amid U S -Iran talks aimed at attempting to limit Iran s nuclear initiative in exchange for lifting selected of the crushing economic sanctions that the U S has imposed on the Islamic Republic which have strained relations for almost years Rafael Mariano Grossi director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Power Agency disclosed the agency compiled its statement seen by The Associated Press over the weekend because Iranian s uranium enrichment is an ongoing concern for the IAEA s board of governors Grossi mentioned they hoped the assessment would provide an incentive for a peaceful fix and a diplomatic answer Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Grossi as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty IAEA expresses serious concern The confidential IAEA statement raised a warning saying Iran is now the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material something the agency disclosed was of serious concern The IAEA account announced that Iran as of May had amassed pounds of uranium enriched up to That is an increase of almost since the IAEA s last summary in February The enriched material is a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of Iran s leadership has commented it believes the IAEA statement is politically motivated by Grossi s hopes of becoming the next U N secretary-general Grossi is attempting to attract the votes of several members of the U N Measure Council with the statement the head of Iran s Atomic Resource Organization Mohammad Eslami stated the official IRNA news agency late Sunday He basically has chosen a political attitude and this political attitude has led the habitat to be more political rather that technical Eslami revealed Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected countless of the summary s findings Gharibabadi noted on Sunday that out of the IAEA s inspections of states were carried out in Iran alone So long as a country s nuclear pursuits are under the IAEA s monitoring there is no cause for concern he reported The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or engagements Questions about US transparency Iran is concerned that the U S hasn t provided enough transparency about what Iran can gain from the talks Esmail Baghaei Iran s foreign ministry spokesperson explained on Monday It must be crystal clear to us that how the unfair sanctions against the Iranian nation will be removed Baghaei noted Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi who is mediating in the U S -Iran talks visited Tehran on Saturday to present Washington s latest proposal for ongoing discussions The fifth round of talks between the U S and Iran concluded in Rome last week with particular but not conclusive progress al-Busaidi declared at the time Araghchi reported Monday that Iran will reply to the U S approach soon but there will be no agreement unless Iran s right to enrichment is respected If the purpose of the talks is to attain trust that Islamic Republic of Iran will never go after nuclear weapons I think an agreement is fully achievable Araghchi commented But if there are unreasonable and unreal purposes if the aim is depriving Iran from having peaceful programs we will never accept any agreement Lidman stated from Dubai United Arab Emirates