Iran implementing nuclear-related commitments under JCPOA: IAEA

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano attends the opening session of the agency's General Conference at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on September 18, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has once again confirmed that Iran is implementing its commitments under the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of countries.

“The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said on Monday.

Amano made the remarks in his opening address to the IAEA's 61st General Conference in Vienna, a week after he told the 35-member Board of Governors that Iran had lived up to its commitments under the JCPOA.

He added that since the 60th General Conference in September 2016, the IAEA had continued to verify and monitor Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the nuclear deal.

“Iran is now subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime,” Amano added.

Amano emphasized that the UN nuclear agency would continue to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement, adding, “Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran remain ongoing.”

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

The IAEA has consistently verified that Iran is in compliance since the deal started being implemented.

Maintaining JCPOA essential: France FM

Speaking to reporters in New York on Monday ahead of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian staunchly defended the JCPOA, stressing the importance of sustaining the deal.

“It is essential to maintain it [the JCPOA]," said Le Drian, whose country is a signatory to the nuclear agreement.

French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian

The French foreign minister also spoke about the possibility of holding talks to "complement" the agreement, adding, “Even ... we could complement the accord for after 2025.”

The United State, which is a party to the landmark nuclear agreement, seems to be laying out a case for abandoning it.

US President Donald Trump, who had made no secret of opposing the nuclear agreement in his election campaign, has threatened to “tear up” the agreement, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.”

In its efforts to undermine the deal, the White House has recently attempted to sway the IAEA’s reporting on Iran.

Last month, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley traveled to Vienna to press the IAEA to request access to Iran’s military sites, a move that Washington hoped would undermine the JCPOA.


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