Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 June 2023.

UK, France and Germany (E3) statement to the IAEA about Iran’s implementation of its obligations under its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement.

Chair, France, Germany and the United Kingdom thank Director-General Grossi for his report on the implementation of safeguards in Iran contained in GOV/2023/26.

We fully support and commend the DG and the Secretariat for their professional, independent and impartial verification of Iran’s safeguards obligations, and commend their repeated efforts to engage Iran on clarifying information concerning the correctness and completeness of its declarations under its NPT Safeguards Agreement. The IAEA should continue to evaluate all safeguards-relevant information available, in line with its mandate and standard practice.

Chair, a few hours before the last Board, the IAEA and Iran agreed the 4 March 2023 joint statement in which “Iran expressed its readiness to continue its cooperation and provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues” and, “on a voluntary basis, to allow the IAEA to implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities”.

This joint statement was agreed in the context of Iran’s grave and continued escalation of its nuclear program, which included 2 particularly concerning actions:

• centrifuge configuration changes made by Iran at Fordow without prior notice to the IAEA and uncovered during an unannounced inspection
• detection of particles of uranium enriched at 83.7%, which is grossly inconsistent with the declared level of enrichment

These Iranian actions also took place in the context of over 4 years of a lack of substantive cooperation with the IAEA regarding possible undeclared nuclear material at a number of undeclared locations in Iran. The Board has adopted 3 resolutions on this matter, most recently in November, when the Board decided that it is “essential and urgent”, that Iran act to fulfil its legal obligations and clarify all outstanding safeguards issues without delay.

In the context of this escalation, and Iran’s longstanding lack of cooperation with the Agency, incremental and limited steps are neither sufficient nor satisfactory. Only the full implementation by Iran of its Joint Statement commitments, and crucially its legal obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, can re-establish trust in Iran’s claim that its nuclear program only serves peaceful purposes.

Chair, Iran’s level of cooperation remains insufficient, as reflected in the Director General’s report.

On outstanding safeguards issues, we note that the Agency at this time has no additional questions on the depleted uranium particles detected at Marivan. But we also note that the Agency’s assessment of the activities undertaken by Iran in the other location at Marivan remains as set out previously: that Iran conducted explosive experiments in preparation for the use of neutron detectors. This is a stark reminder of the reason why we need to continue to demand full transparency from Iran on all outstanding safeguards issues.

We also note with great concern that the Agency reports no progress towards resolving the remaining outstanding safeguards issues. As clearly requested by the Agency in its report, Iran needs to address outstanding issues and provide, without further delay, technically credible information on the current location(s) of nuclear material and contaminated equipment in relation to Turquzabad and Varamin.

Unless and until Iran provides technically credible explanations to the Agency’s persisting outstanding questions, as reiterated by the November Resolution, the Agency will not be able to confirm the correctness and completeness of Iran’s declarations under its NPT Safeguards Agreement. These outstanding issues need to be resolved for the Agency to be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful. Such assurances are critical for the international community and the international non-proliferation regime.

In addition, a new issue has arisen with regard to a discrepancy, detected more than a year ago, between the amount of natural uranium from Jaber Ibn Hayan Laboratory declared by Iran and the amount verified by the Agency. The Agency considers Iran’s latest accountancy “not to be based on scientific grounds, and therefore, not acceptable”. We call upon Iran to engage the Agency to explain the shortfall of nuclear material. It is worth recalling that this material is related to a previous safeguards site of concern – Lavisan-Shian.

Finally, we once again recall that implementation of Modified Code 3.1 is a legal obligation for Iran under the Subsidiary Arrangement to its NPT Safeguards Agreement which cannot be modified or stopped unilaterally.

On other safeguards issues, we take note of the Agency’s assessment regarding the 83.7% enriched uranium particles, that “the information provided [by Iran] was not inconsistent with Iran’s explanation for the origin” of such particles. We continue to stress that any such enrichment, whatever its nature or intention, is wholly unacceptable. It constituted an unprecedented and extremely grave development, for which there is no credible civilian justification. These actions show Iran has built capabilities suitable for enrichment for nuclear weapons purposes.

On verification and monitoring activities, we note the limited steps that have been taken such as the reinstallation of enrichment monitoring devices of high enriched uranium at both Fordow and Natanz. We also note the reinstallation of some surveillance cameras in some centrifuge production facilities. Yet, progress again remains short of expectations.

Steps taken to allow further verification activities constitute a start, but they remain vastly incomplete. Without the installation of surveillance equipment in all locations requested by the Agency, and without access to the data recorded since February 2021 such steps have limited value, despite efforts of the Agency to secure this oversight. These steps are fragile: the Agency clearly states that “the process needs to be sustained and uninterrupted in order that all of the commitments contained therein are fulfilled without further delay”.

Chair, we urge Iran to act without any possible delay as requested by the Agency, in order to clarify and resolve all outstanding issues. The Director General has made clear asks in his report and requested engagement from Iran, and the November Resolution makes clear the Board’s requirements of Iran. Both should be delivered by the next Board of Governors at the latest.

If Iran fails to implement by the next Board the essential and urgent actions contained in the November 2022 Resolution and the March Joint Statement in full, the Board will have to be prepared to take further action, including if necessary making a finding on whether the Agency is not able to verify that there has been no diversion of nuclear material. We reiterate that we are looking forward to Iran clarifying all outstanding issues as soon as possible and that if the IAEA Director General confirms that these issues have been duly addressed we will not deem further reports on developments necessary.

We would like to thank the IAEA for their impartial and professional work on this issue.

We encourage the Director General to continue reporting to the Board of Governors and welcome making the report contained in GOV/2023/26 public, consistent with long-standing practice.

Thank you, Chair.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 June 2023.

UK military advisor, Ian Stubbs, says the Kremlin’s intellectually bankrupt recourse to attritional warfare shows its appalling willingness to sacrifice the Russian people.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In the early hours of yesterday morning, the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant suffered significant damage. Reports indicate that an explosion occurred at the dam causing the entire eastern portion of the dam and much of the hydro and utilities infrastructure to be swept away resulting in significant flooding in the local area. We note that the water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir was at a record high before the collapse, resulting in a particularly high volume of water inundating the area downstream. The dam’s structure is likely to deteriorate further over the next few days, causing additional flooding.

We express our deepest concern regarding the potential impact of this damage on communities living in the downstream areas, the provision of clean water supplies, the longer-term safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and the wider ecological consequences from the destruction of the dam. Reports that Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson during evacuation efforts, if correct, are particularly egregious. We are clear; the destruction of the Kakhovka dam is yet another devastating example of the terrible consequences of Russia’s unprovoked, illegal and full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Madam Chair, Russia’s continued attempts to break the will and resolve of the Ukrainian people with repeated barrages of missile and drone strikes on towns and cities across Ukraine are deplorable and heinous acts. They are the desperate actions of Russian military leaders who have run out of ideas, consistently overestimated their force capabilities and underestimated the strength and resolve of the Ukrainian people.

Over the course of May, Russia launched over 300 of the Iranian Shahed one-way attack UAVs against Ukraine. This is its most intense use of this weapon system to date. But Russia’s attempts to deplete Ukraine’s advanced air defences, including those gifted by international partners, through these “swarm” tactics are unlikely to have been notably successful. Ukraine has neutralised at least 90% of these UAVs mostly using its older and cheaper air defence weapons and with electronic jamming.

Madam Chair, over the last 72 hours there has been a substantial increase in fighting along numerous sectors of the front, including those which have been relatively quiet for several months.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the 24 February 2022 one of its objectives appears to have been the complete capture of the whole of the Donbas region within 10-14 days. Over 15 months later, Russia’s grinding offensive in the Donbas has stalled at a cost of extraordinarily high casualty rates. Since May last year, up to 60,000 Wagner and regular Russian forces have been killed or wounded in the area around Bakhmut alone. Russia has suffered nearly half of those casualties, almost 30,000 killed or wounded, in the last three months since March. These staggering losses have achieved at total advance of just 29 kilometres. That is for every 48 centimetres of ground Russia gained, one of its soldiers was killed or wounded.

Madam Chair, it is well over a year since Russia’s military leaders were forced to abandon their aspirations to deliver an overwhelming decisive victory through modern combined arms manoeuvre warfare. For over a year, we have watched those decision makers double down on their similarly ill-fated contingency plan – the blunt edged, intellectually bankrupt recourse to attritional warfare. This has resulted in an appalling demonstration of the Kremlin’s willingness to sacrifice the Russian people, including its mobilised citizens, by the thousands in the name of Putin’s horrendous and contrived war of choice.

Last week, our Russian colleague continued to insist on the delusion that the so called “Special Military Operation” was going to plan, that all objectives would be achieved. We all know that Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine is built on lies but the reality: Russia’s stalled invasion, the thousands of Russian casualties, and the significant degradation in Russia’s combat effectiveness, clearly demonstrates this is anything but true.

Madam Chair, the UK and its international partners are steadfast in our support for Ukraine as demonstrated by the continued provision of military assistance. Ukraine has regained territory and liberated thousands of Ukrainian people thanks to the awe-inspiring bravery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the resilience of the Ukrainian people and overwhelming international support. Together, the UK and partners are ensuring that Ukraine will win. Our united approach of providing Ukraine with the support it needs to defend itself and push Russia out of Ukraine’s sovereign territory is the swiftest, and only, path to a just and lasting peace. Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 June 2023.

The Foreign Secretary has travelled to Kyiv ahead of the UK hosting the Ukraine Recovery Conference in June 2023.

• Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has travelled to Ukraine to underline the UK’s unwavering support for the country
• comes ahead of major recovery summit set to be held in London later this month to spur the country’s economic recovery
• Foreign Secretary meets President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, following the Prime Minister’s bilateral with him in Moldova last week

Ukraine can count on the UK’s support, both on the battlefield and during its recovery, the Foreign Secretary has told the country during his second visit to Kyiv.

The visit comes as the UK prepares to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London later this month, which will bring together world leaders, business chief executives, NGOs and the Ukrainian Government to discuss how to rebuild and bolster the country’s economic outlook.

While in Ukraine the Foreign Secretary met President Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss how the UK can continue to best support Ukraine, from the battlefield to banking guarantees.

It is the fourth meeting President Zelenskyy and senior UK ministers have held in as many weeks, with Prime Minister holding bilaterals with President Zelenskyy at the meeting of the European Political Community in Moldova last week, in Japan at the G7 Summit in May, and at Chequers in the UK the week before the Hiroshima meeting.

The Foreign Secretary’s Kyiv visit builds on his engagements in Estonia last week and a meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers in Norway, where he reiterated the UK’s call for Ukraine to join NATO and for the Alliance to be made even stronger with the swift accession of Sweden.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

As Ukraine continues its sustained fightback against Russia, I was able to see for myself the true horrors and devastation of what Russia has wreaked on this sovereign state.

Forcibly deporting children, razing cities like Bakhmut, Izium and Mariupol to the ground and committing atrocities are not the acts of a responsible international state. They are the actions of a hostile regime that is in violation of the UN Charter.

Ukraine will win this war and can count on our support.

This is the second time the Foreign Secretary has visited Ukraine since Russia’s illegal invasion, last visiting in November 2022 to discuss the UK’s support for the country. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has also visited the country twice, most recently in May 2023.

During this week’s trip, the Foreign Secretary visited a site that was under Russian occupation for most of March 2022. The farmland site was a part of Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure and since being reclaimed, is now in the process of being demined by the HALO Trust. Demining will help the agriculture sector’s recovery in Ukraine by making large areas of land safe to access again.  It is estimated that 30% of Ukraine’s territory (174,000 square kilometres) has been exposed to intense combat operations, and so may be contaminated by landmines and other explosive remnants of war. We have provided HALO Trust with £2.5 million of funding to protect the most at risk communities and help the Ukrainian people take back their land and lives from the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

The Foreign Secretary visited a pioneering rehabilitation hospital supporting veterans of the fighting, which makes prosthetics on site. Its work is helping Ukrainians to rebuild their lives. The hospital is just one example of Ukraine’s ability to adapt through technology despite the war.

The Foreign Secretary also met children who were forcibly deported to Russia and listened to some survivors’ accounts at a centre supporting their return to life in Ukraine. Last year, the UK announced sanctions against the Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for her alleged involvement in the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children. She has since become subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.

The UK has been unwavering in its support for the people of Ukraine as they resist a brutal and unprovoked invasion. Last year the UK provided £2.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine – the largest package of support of any European nation and second only to the United States’ support. This includes the delivery of StormShadow missiles to help its military to push back Russian forces based on Ukrainian sovereign territory.

We have also pledged £1.5 billion in economic and humanitarian support, which has funded the delivery of more than 11 million medical items.

Background

The Ukraine Recovery Conference will be held in London on 21 to 22 June 2023 and will bring together governments and industry leaders to develop a concerted multi-sector plan to help Ukraine to recover from Russia’s illegal invasion.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 June 2023.

Dr Liane Saunders OBE has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman in succession to Mr William Murray who has retired from the Diplomatic Service. Dr Saunders will take up her appointment during June 2023.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Liane Saunders

Place of Birth: Cardiff, UK