Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed to temporary measures to offset Iran’s decision to restrict access to inspectors. However, they have agreed to “a temporary bilateral technical understanding”, compatible with this law, whereby the IAEA will continue with its necessary verification and monitoring activities for up to three months. They reiterated that Iran continues to implement “fully and without limitation” its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA as before.
They also “recalled and reaffirmed the spirit of cooperation and enhanced mutual trust” that led to their joint statement of 26 August 2020, “and the importance of continuing that cooperation and trust”.
WHAT’S THE OUTCOME
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi arrived in Tehran on 20 February, weeks after Iran’s parliament set a deadline of 23 February for the US administration to lift economic sanctions, or Tehran would halt snap IAEA inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Speaking to journalists gathered outside Vienna airport after his return from Iran last night, Grossi said: “We got a reasonable result after what was a very intensive consultation, negotiation, with our Iranian counterparts. In view of the imminent deadline established by a law passed by the Iranian parliament, we, the Agency, believed that it was very necessary to have this conversation with our Iranian counterparts so as to avoid a situation where we all of a sudden would find ourselves lacking information about important activities taking place in Iran.
“This was the spirit in which I proposed myself to come to Iran,” he said of his offer to Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian vice president and the head of the AEOI. “Salehi accepted and I was there yesterday and today. Basically what we have agreed is the following. Firstly we reconfirmed that Iran will continue to implement the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement without any limitation, as they have been doing so far. Secondly we agreed that, in view of the law and in particular the provision that establishes limitations, we reached a temporary bilateral technical understanding, whereby the Agency is going to continue its necessary verification and monitoring activities for a period of up to three months. Lastly, we agreed that we are going to keep this understanding we reached under constant review, so if we want to suspend or extend it, this can be done.
“The IAEA hopes to be able to stabilize a situation that was very unstable and I think this technical understanding does that, so that other political consultations at other levels can take place and, most importantly, we can avoid a situation in which we would have been, in practical terms, flying blind.”
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