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Urgent That Iran Complies With Nuclear Obligations
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, has adopted a resolution declaring it “essential and urgent” that Iran fulfill its legal obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’s Safeguards Agreement “without delay.”
Those obligations include explaining the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared locations in Iran and informing the IAEA of the current location of the nuclear material and/or contaminated equipment. Without such information, the IAEA said, “The Agency cannot confirm the correctness and completeness of Iran’s declarations under its NPT Safeguards Agreement.”
The resolution, adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on November 17 is the second such resolution this year. After the first resolution in June, instead of complying with calls for cooperation and transparency, Iran removed dozens of cameras used by the Agency to monitor Iran’s nuclear sites. After the November resolution, Iran indicated it would cancel an up-and-coming technical meeting with the IAEA.
At a press briefing, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi noted that it has been “a very long time” since the IAEA has had a view of what is happening in Iran. “There is a mass of activity about which we don’t know anything,” he said.
In a joint statement, the Foreign Ministries of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States said that with the latest resolution the IAEA “has sent a clear message” that Iran must “take the actions specified without delay.”
“Iran must provide technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles identified at three undeclared locations in Iran and clarify the whereabout of the related nuclear material and/or contaminated equipment,” they said. “As we have made clear, if Iran does this and the Director General is able to report that the unresolved safeguards issues are no longer outstanding, the Board could then close its consideration of this matter. We hope Iran takes this opportunity to cooperate with the IAEA in good faith toward closing these outstanding matters, so that no further Board action on these issues will be necessary.”