Amano to Explain Agency's Role in Iran Agreement to U.S. Senate

Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will go to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee next Wednesday to explain how the agency monitors Iran's nuclear program under the Vienna agreement. Some members of the U.S. Congress are calling for more public information regarding the agency's role in verifying Iran's commitments under the agreement. Congress is set to vote on this agreement by September 17. According to Reuters, the agency announced on Friday, July 30, that Yukiya Amano is 'expected to explain the role of the IAEA in verifying and monitoring Iran's nuclear activities within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)' that Iran and six world powers have agreed upon. The JCPOA is the title of the agreement signed on July 14 between Iran and the members of the 1+5 group, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and the UK along with Germany in Vienna. Hours before the agency's statement was released, a diplomatic source informed Reuters that 'I am aware that Amano received an invitation letter from the members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee at midnight (Vienna time). I am also aware that he (the Director General of the agency) is positively considering this invitation.' The agency is obligated to provide its assessments regarding Tehran's past and future nuclear activities based on the Vienna agreement and a separate contract it has with Iran. Reuters writes that Mr. Amano must balance the information he conveys about Iran's nuclear activities with the significant political consequences that may arise from the potential release of this information. If Iran violates the Vienna agreement, Amano and the agency's inspectors are responsible for tracking and reporting the violations of the Islamic Republic to the world. The agency has stated that the non-disclosure of safeguard agreements with member states is a normal issue, and Iran is not exempt from this. According to the agreement between Iran and the agency, which was signed hours before the announcement of the Vienna agreement, sensitive issues such as Iran's potentially military nuclear activities at the Parchin site must be resolved by the end of 2015. Congressional Republicans have objected to this agreement, stating that it cannot prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the long term. In various Senate and House committee Q&A sessions held over the past two weeks, some U.S. representatives and senators revealed that according to a clause in the Iran and agency agreement, sampling from the Parchin site is the responsibility of Iran, and American inspectors do not have the right to participate in inspections. They have stated that the Obama administration should provide them with the text of this agreement, but John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, announced that we do not have access to the original agreement because its content is confidential, and we are only aware of its summary, which members of the U.S. Congress will be informed about in a closed session. Mr. Kerry has warned that rejecting the global powers' agreement with Iran by the U.S. Congress would eliminate all restrictions placed on Tehran's nuclear program and allow it to not only accelerate its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons but also access billions of dollars from the lifting of sanctions. Under the Vienna agreement, global powers have committed to lifting UN, U.S., and EU sanctions against Iran if strict limitations are imposed on Iran's nuclear program and verified by the agency.