IAEA Verifies Compliance of Tehran's Nuclear Program

The head of UN nuclear watchdog said the body is continuing to verify the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, confirming Iran's fulfillment of its obligations under the July 2015 nuclear pact with world powers.

Addressing a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors on Monday, Director General Yukiya Amano also said "evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran continue". The landmark accord ended a 12-year dispute between Iran and western powers that accused Tehran of intending to develop nuclear weapons. Iran was always countering that its program has merely peaceful applications, an assertion verified by numerous IAEA inspections.

The deal removed international nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in exchange for temporary curbs on its nuclear work, including reducing the number of centrifuges installed at Fordo and Natanz enrichment sites, cutting the enriched uranium stockpile below 300 kg and the fissile purity of 3.67%, and redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor. The agency is tasked with checking Iran's compliance with the accord and Amano recently delivered its fifth quarterly assessment to member states of the board since the pact was struck. According to AFP, the report said Iran is not pursuing the construction of its existing heavy water research reactor and has not enriched uranium above an agreed 3.67% limit.

"Iran has not conducted any uranium enrichment or related research and development activities" at its Fordo nuclear plant, the IAEA added. It also said Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium was 101.7 kg, well below the agreed level of 300 kg.

On Iran's stock of heavy water, the report said it has shipped out a portion and the current level was just above 124 tons.

In November 2016, the atomic watchdog noted that Iran had crept above the 130-ton limit. The pact, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, has been on shaky ground since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who on the campaign trail last year railed against the agreement. Trump branded it "a disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated" and once even promised to rip it up if he became president, although he later backed down and said will seek to alter the terms of the accord instead. But the idea of revising the deal was not welcomed by other parties to the deal, namely France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

source: Financial Tribune