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Tensions brew between Tehran and the IAEA over nuclear plant

  The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has said he will need to go to Tehran very soon to restore his inspectorate’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme. Rafael Grossi also said that Iran should not have carried out recent unilateral changes at the Fordow nuclear plant, which will require increased inspections. The modifications, discovered by the IAEA and reported to the board of governors last month, involved an undeclared change to the interconnection between two machines enriching advanced uranium.  Speaking at Chatham House in London, he said: “There has been a modification that should have been reported. You cannot go back and right this wrong. The thing is that, of course, with this  modification, the facility has new capabilities so we have to inspect more.”  His remarks suggest Grossi was not convinced by the Iranian explanation that the changes at the plant had been due to a human error and had been corrected. But he insisted he wante...

Iran has made 'substantial change' at nuclear site, says UN

  The UN's nuclear watchdog has expressed concern over Iran's continuing breaches of a 2015 agreement with world powers, accusing   Tehran   of significantly changing designs at a key nuclear plant. Details of a visit by an  International Atomic Energy Agency  delegation to Iran were revealed in an unreleased report seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Rafael Grossi, the IAEA chief, “is concerned that Iran has implemented a substantial change in the design information” at the  Fordow nuclear plant  without informing the agency in advance, the report said. Two IR-6 uranium enrichment cascades were interconnected in a manner “substantially different” from what Iranian officials had declared to the IAEA, it added. The IAEA has been at an impasse for months with Tehran, which has refused to yield to member state's urges to explain traces of highly-enriched uranium at undeclared sites. In November, it announced it would increase its stockpile of uranium and insta...