State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf dismissed a New York Times report on Iran’s stockpiles of nuclear fuel Tuesday, saying in a press briefing that she and others in her department are “totally perplexed” by the paper’s coverage of the issue.
Harf’s remarks were made in reference to a Times article published June 2, titled “Iran’s Nuclear Stockpile Grows, Complicating Negotiations,” wherein the newspaper reported that, “Tehran’s stockpiles of nuclear fuel increased about 20 percent over the last 18 months of negotiations.”
The Times report is based on findings from international inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Times also noted that the IAEA’s findings could complicate the Obama administration’s earlier claim that the Iranians had “frozen” their nuclear program during its negotiations with the United States.
But Harf said this is all nonsense.
“Our team read that story this morning and was quite frankly perplexed because the main contentions of it are totally inaccurate,” the State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“First, the notion in the story that western officials or U.S. officials involved were unaware of this issue or not understanding of what this entails is just absurd,” she said. “Under the [Joint Plan of Action], Iran can fluctuate its numbers in terms of their stockpile. They can go up and down as long as at the end of fixed date they are back down below a number.”
The Times’ claim that Iran has increased its fuel stockpiles by 20 percent seemingly contradicts White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Earnest told reporters on March 2 that the administration had been successful in rolling back Iran’s program “in several key areas, including reducing and eliminating their stockpile of highly enriched uranium.”
Harf stressed in the presser Tuesday that it’s important that Tehran has agreed to dial back its stockpiles when it and the United States finalize a nuclear agreement.
“What matters is that they [Iran] have committed already, and we said publicly to reducing their stockpile whenever this implemented 300 kilograms,” Harf said. “The notion that this is some big issue of concern of negotiation is more manufacturing a controversy than actual reality.”
“Everyone who read that story this morning was totally perplexed by it,” she said.
She added later in response to a tweet by the Free Beacon that, “the arguments in the article are just wrong — perplexed the [Times] would print such inaccuracies.”
Separately, the Institute for Science and International Security released a report Tuesday addressing the question of whether Iran would be able to comply with the guidelines of the Joint Plan of Action.
“Iran has clearly fallen behind in its pledge” regarding 5 percent enriched uranium, the Institute for Science and International Security’s David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini said.
Tehran’s apparent failure to meet its obligations “show the risk posed by relying on technical solutions that have not yet been demonstrated by Iran, the report added.
