Amano: Iran's Active Cooperation Facilitates Verification Process

Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), emphasized in his first report to the Board of Governors since the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal that the agency has additional access to the necessary centers and locations in Iran, and that Iran's "timely and active cooperation" will facilitate the verification process. In a report addressed to the IAEA Board of Governors published on Monday, June 3, the Director General stated that despite the U.S. exit from the JCPOA, the agency's monitoring and verification activities regarding Iran's nuclear commitments under the nuclear agreement continue in accordance with the requirements of the United Nations Security Council and the powers delegated by the Board of Governors. Donald Trump, the U.S. President and a critic of the Iran nuclear deal, announced last month the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA at the end of a deadline he had set for correcting the flaws of the agreement, stating that the sanctions against Iran that had been lifted under the JCPOA would be reinstated. Among the conditions that Mr. Trump set for amending the JCPOA and remaining in the nuclear agreement was full access for agency inspectors to all relevant centers and locations in Iran. Now, Mr. Amano has pointed out in reference to his previous report to the Board of Governors that the agency has additional access to all centers and locations in Iran that require visits under the Additional Protocol. The Director General added that "Iran's timely and active cooperation" in providing this access "will lead to improved implementation of the Additional Protocol and increased confidence." He also referred to the recent meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA in Vienna, stating that he informed participants about the agency's monitoring and verification activities in Iran. Mr. Amano emphasized at the end of the Iran section of his report that the agency continues to investigate the non-diversion of nuclear materials declared by Iran under its safeguards agreement and that assessments regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear materials and activities in Iran are ongoing. The latest meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, which oversees the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement, was held on Friday, June 24, in Vienna, focusing on the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. According to Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Yukiya Amano was specifically invited to this meeting, where once again Iran's commitment to its nuclear obligations was emphasized. The U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and its intention to reinstate stringent sanctions against the Islamic Republic have posed a serious challenge to the preservation of the JCPOA and Europe's economic engagement with Iran, with European officials striving to address the repercussions since the announcement of the U.S. exit. Regarding the verification and monitoring of Iran's commitments, the Director General of the agency had previously stated that this process would take years. At that time, the agency announced that verification and monitoring of the implementation of the JCPOA would cost nearly 10 million euros annually, with over 60% funded from the agency's annual budget and the remainder from contributions by member states. The U.S., which is the main funder of the IAEA, had announced at the beginning of this year that it allocated one million dollars to the agency's activities in the field of verification and monitoring of the JCPOA.