“Yesterday in Cairo an important step in the right direction was taken, with the agreement on practical modalities for the implementation of safeguards in Iran signed by me and His Excellency the Foreign Minister of Iran Doctor Abbas Araghchi,” Grossi .
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is responsible for independently verifying that nuclear facilities are not misused and nuclear material is not diverted from peaceful uses, according to the legal commitments under a state’s respective safeguards agreements with the agency. For Iran, those agreements include the JCPOA – a 2015 agreement between Iran, the USA, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities including uranium enrichment over a 15-year period and to allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.
But the IAEA has not been able to carry out all of its monitoring duties in Iran for some time: Grossi pointed to the military attacks against various Iranian nuclear installations in June had led to the “complete” suspension of all inspection work. The IAEA’s monitoring activities in Iran had already been severely curtailed for several years, with the parliament of Iran having adopted a law to suspend the agency. In June, the IAEA’s governors formally declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.
“This risked putting us before the real possibility of Iran failing to observe and comply with its safeguards obligations. I am sure you will agree with me the fact that this would not be a situation we would like to see, given its multiple and inevitably negative consequences. It was encouraging for us to see Iran’s declared willingness not to leave the NPT and to continue working inside the international non-proliferation regime,” Grossi said.
Grossi said it had been the IAEA’s duty as an international organisation to find ways to address Iran’s concerns in a way that would reconcile the parameters under Iran’s new law and the existing legal obligations under NPT safeguards agreements: “This required dialogue and a thorough understanding of the situation and Iran’s specific views: this is exactly what we have been doing for the past few weeks through a series of bilateral technical consultations culminating yesterday in my meeting with Dr Araghchi in Cairo.
“In essence … this technical document provides for a clear understanding of the procedures for inspection, certifications and their implementation fully in line with the relevant provisions of the CSA [comprehensive safeguards agreement]. These include all facilities and installations in Iran and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities including the nuclear material present at those. For this, Iran will follow its recently adopted internal procedures, and that will open the way for the respective inspections and access. Safeguards approaches to each facility will be reviewed at the technical level, always in line with the rights and obligations of Iran and the agency under the NPT safeguards agreement, which are not modified or amended as a result of these practical steps.
“The technical nature of this document does not diminish its profound significance: Iran and the agency will now resume cooperation in a respectful and comprehensive way.”
Grossi expressed his gratitude to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty for their role in facilitating the agreement.
The resumption of IAEA inspection activities in Iran would show that “agreements and understandings” are possible, Grossi said. “Nothing replaces dialogue if one wants durable lasting solutions to international challenges, like this one.”
