Deputy Directors of the IAEA Headed to Tehran Tonight

A senior Iranian official has announced that the deputy directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will travel to Tehran on the evening of Sunday, July 14. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), the unnamed official stated, "We have declared our readiness to resolve the remaining issues in a way that the Agency can address them within its considerations, and in this context, a group of deputies and experts from the Agency will head to Tehran tonight to resolve these issues as well." The Iranian official referred to the visit of Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, to Tehran and the discussions held, announcing that the two sides have reached a framework to address the remaining issues related to potential military dimensions, which is a framework desired by Iran, the 1+5 group, and the Agency. In this regard, Behrouz Kamalvandi, Deputy for International Affairs and Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization, told ISNA that two delegations from the IAEA will separately arrive in Tehran tonight. He added that these delegations include Tero Varjoranta, Deputy Director General of the IAEA, Servio Rota, Chief of Staff and Assistant to the Director General, and Aparao, a senior official from the Agency. Kamalvandi emphasized that discussions regarding past issues between Iran and the Agency and the continuation of cooperation between Iran and the Agency are among the topics of our discussions with the Agency officials, stating, "The Agency's delegations will arrive in Tehran early tonight and will leave Tehran tomorrow night." The IAEA Director General visited Tehran on Wednesday during nuclear negotiations in Vienna and met with President Hassan Rouhani and Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on Thursday. In his assessment of the results of his visit to Iran, the IAEA Director General stated on Friday that the parties have reached a better mutual understanding regarding some issues, but more work still needs to be done. However, Amano stated on Saturday that if Iran shows the necessary cooperation, the Agency could prepare its report on the "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear program within the next six months (by the end of the current calendar year). President Hassan Rouhani, in his meeting with Yukiya Amano, stated that if some "non-technical issues" are not involved and both sides have the necessary will, the remaining issues between Iran and the Agency can be resolved. The "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear program remain one of the unresolved issues between Iran and the Agency. The Agency is seeking inspections of "suspicious" military sites, but Iran's leader has explicitly stated that he opposes visits to Iran's military sites. One of the sites the Agency wants to inspect is the Parchin military facility, and Agency inspectors have so far been unable to visit this area. Reza Najafi, Iran's representative at the Agency, had mentioned earlier this year that the remaining disagreements pertain to a report on "high-level explosions" in tests and issues regarding "neutron calculations." However, Najafi expressed hope that these two issues could also be resolved in future meetings. Nevertheless, the IAEA stated in its June report that it remains necessary for Iran to respond to the Agency's questions regarding access to the Parchin military site. Iran has previously described the allegations regarding the "possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program" or PMD as "baseless and unfounded."