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IRAN-NUCLEAR-IAEA
‘Temporary solution’ found ahead of Iran nuclear deadline: IAEA
VIENNA, Feb 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog
said on Sunday that a three-month “temporary solution” had been found to
allow the agency’s monitoring in Iran to continue, although its level of
access will be limited from Tuesday.
“What we agreed is something that is viable — it is useful to bridge this
gap that we are having now, it salvages the situation now,” Rafael Grossi,
head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told
reporters after flying back from talks in Tehran.
Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament passed a law in December demanding
the country suspend some inspections if the US failed to lift sanctions.
The law is due to go into effect on Tuesday.
“This law exists, this law is going to be applied, which means that the
Additional Protocol, much to my regret, is going to be suspended,” Grossi
said, referring to one of the agreements between Iran and the IAEA under
which inspections take place.
“There is less access, let’s face it. But still we were able to retain the
necessary degree of monitoring and verification work,” he said, describing
the new arrangement as “a temporary technical understanding”.
Grossi did not give details of precisely which activities the IAEA would no
longer be able to do but confirmed that the number of inspectors in Iran
would not be reduced and that snap inspections could continue under the
temporary arrangement.
The new “understanding” will however be kept under constant review and can
be suspended at any time.
Grossi’s visit to Tehran came amid stepped-up efforts between US President
Joe Biden’s administration, European powers and Iran to salvage the 2015
nuclear deal that has been on the brink of collapse since Donald Trump
withdrew from it.
Grossi described Sunday’s agreement as “a good result… a reasonable
result” following “very, very intensive consultations” with Iranian
officials.
He was speaking after two days of meetings in the Iranian capital during
which he met Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the head of the Iran
Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi.
Grossi said his hope in going to Tehran was “to stabilise a situation which
was very unstable” . “I think this technical understanding does it so that
other political discussions 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,” he added.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0920 hrs