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A new Master's degree programme, launched as part of the European Safeguards Training and Education project, will help ensure academics and safeguards inspectors "stay connected and do not drift away from each other", Massimo Aparo, head of the Department of Safeguards at the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency, said today.

Iran and the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency have agreed to extend their 'temporary technical understanding' by one month, until 24 June. At a press briefing held today to announce the extension, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the understanding announced in February had "left the door ajar" and the extension meant it "stayed ajar, for now".

US President Dwight Eisenhower's 'Atoms for Peace' speech to the UN General Assembly in 1953 is still relevant as the world of today confronts the existential threat of climate change, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León told delegates at a preparatory event for the Tenth NPT Review Conference that is expected to take place in August. Speaking at the event - titled Industry and Peaceful Applications of Nuclear Technology - Bilbao y León called upon all signatories to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in 1970, to support the expansion of civil nuclear power.

Iran on 17 April began enriching uranium up to 60%, after previously notifying the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency of its intention to do so. Enrichment to 60% uranium-235 is being carried out in two cascades of IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges at the Natanz facility.

The Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group has ended its use of high-enriched uranium targets in the production of radioisotopes at the High Flux Reactor in Petten, the Netherlands. The reactor itself was converted from HEU fuel, which can pose a proliferation risk, to low-enriched uranium fuel in 2006.

While the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Tehran must stop all activity that breaches the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and come back into compliance, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during their telephone call yesterday. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly said the Biden Administration is unwilling to compromise further on efforts to encourage Tehran to hold talks with the USA.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency, today announced a new agreement with Tehran for a face-to-face meeting between technical experts to take place early next month. At a press conference convened at short notice and live-streamed from the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna, Grossi said the aim of the agreement is for the agency and Iran to stop "talking past each other". 

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, says "the time is not ripe" for an unofficial meeting proposed by Josep Borrell, EU foreign affairs chief and coordinator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. His statement follows Iran's commencement last week of restrictions on some site inspections by the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency.

Parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action now have three months within which to navigate the impasse created by a law passed by the Iranian parliament late last year. In a joint statement yesterday, the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency and the Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Organisation of Iran confirmed that Iran will stop the implementation of the voluntary measures as envisaged in the JCPoA from tomorrow, thus enabling the AEOI to comply with the law - Strategic Action to Cease Actions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian Nation.

The E3 - France, Germany and the UK - has welcomed the prospect of a US and Iranian return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The E3 foreign ministers and the US secretary of state held a virtual meeting yesterday to discuss Iran and other pressing issues. It was the second time in this format since Secretary Antony Blinken took office.

Iran has informed the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency that it will stop implementing ‘voluntary transparency measures’ under the 2015 nuclear deal. Specifically, Tehran says it will halt snap nuclear inspections outside of its declared sites as of 23 February.

The Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Organisation of Iran has announced plans to install 1000 new IR2M centrifuge machines at the Natanz nuclear site in the next three months, AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told reporters gathered for Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s visit to the Fordow plant yesterday. According to the Fars news agency, Kamalvandi said Iran is enriching uranium using 100% indigenous technology.