U.S. Senators Left Meeting with Amano with 'Greater Concerns'

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced on Wednesday, August 5, that U.S. senators left a meeting with Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with 'greater concerns' regarding the Iran nuclear agreement. According to Reuters, Bob Corker stated after the meeting that 'this was not a reassuring meeting.' He did not provide further details. Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano stated in a statement released after the meeting that the 'roadmap' for resolving past issues in Iran's nuclear file was also discussed. The so-called 'roadmap' agreement was signed between Iran and the IAEA on July 14, just hours before the announcement of the Vienna agreement. In his statement, the Director General added that he faced many questions from the senators, including about the 'roadmap.' Amano's response was that 'his legal obligations require that safeguards remain confidential, and this is one of the essential elements of the international safeguards regime.' The IAEA, Iran, and the U.S. government have stated that such agreements between this international body and the signing country must remain confidential. This agreement is a means of verifying Iran's current and past actions, which the IAEA has said it can report on by the end of this year if Iran cooperates. Amano further stated that both agreements—the Vienna agreement and the Iran-IAEA agreement—will fundamentally improve the Agency's work regarding the verification of Iran's activities. According to the Director General, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) allows the Agency to implement the Additional Protocol regarding Iran and will provide broader access to information and relevant sites. Amano added that the Vienna agreement also requires Iran to utilize other transparency tools, thus allowing us to learn more about the nature of Iran's nuclear activities. He emphasized that the 'roadmap' agreement helps us resolve unresolved issues related to the potentially military aspects of Iran's nuclear program. This agreement is robust and has a limited deadline. The Director General referred to these two agreements as a 'unique opportunity' to resolve past issues of Iran's nuclear program and stated, 'I am confident that we have the necessary expertise and experience to fulfill our duties.' Last week, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to Amano requesting him to explain the secret agreement between Iran and the IAEA and the role of this international body in 'verifying and monitoring nuclear actions (in Tehran) within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action' that Iran and six world powers have agreed upon. U.S. senators and House members, who have held noisy meetings over the past two weeks to discuss the Iran nuclear agreement, are demanding access to the content of the mentioned agreement. Meanwhile, members of the Obama administration have stated that such agreements are signed between a member state and the IAEA, and the U.S. does not have access to them. The IAEA, based on the Vienna agreement and a separate agreement it has concluded with Iran, is obliged to provide its assessments regarding Tehran's past and future nuclear activities. According to the agreement between Iran and the IAEA, sensitive issues such as Tehran'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, some U.S. representatives and senators revealed that according to a clause in the Iran-IAEA agreement, sampling from the Parchin site is the responsibility of Iran, and U.S. inspectors do not have the right to participate in inspections.