The Iranian government has announced plans to build ten new uranium enrichment facilities in defiance of the United Nations. The decision came just two days after the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency backed a resolution censuring Tehran over its construction of an enrichment plant in secret. On Friday, the outgoing head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, said negotiations with Iran were at a dead end.

Mohamed ElBaradei: “The Agency has continued to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran. However, there has been no movement on remaining issues of concern, which need to be clarified for the Agency to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. It is now well over a year since the Agency was last able to engage Iran in discussions about these outstanding issues. We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us.”