...

Main topics of practical measures in new Iran-IAEA agreement

Nuclear Program Materials 22 May 2014 07:00 (UTC +04:00)
Iran and UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, have reached on taking a 3rd step in their cooperation process, inclusive of Iran’s taking of 5 practical steps by August 25, IRNA reported.
Main topics of practical measures in new Iran-IAEA agreement

Iran and UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, have reached on taking a 3rd step in their cooperation process, inclusive of Iran's taking of 5 practical steps by August 25, IRNA reported.

The text of the agreements were issued in a joint statement issued by Iran and the agency on May 20 in Tehran following the holding on another session of technical talks between the two sides in the framework of their November, 2013 agreement.

In their recent Tehran meeting the two sides were agreed that the achieved progress in implementing the seven practical steps within a period of three months was quite satisfactory, and that five more steps were to be taken by August 25, 2014.

Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi, focusing on the new bilateral agreement said that out of the five steps agreed to be taken in the text of the new agreement three are related to the ongoing processes, while two are related to the past issue.

"On one of the past issues related to the claims on implementing (nuclear) tests in vast dimensions, it has been agreed that the two sides would exchange information, and on the other issue related also to the past explanations about some of the published articles in Iran, which have been quite evident, will be presented (to the agency)," he elaborated.

The IAEA has in its official communique issued on the matter announced them as follows:

1. Explanation about the made claims on beginners of strong explosion due to a claimed nuclear test in Iran

2. Presenting information on the claims on special neutron research works in Iran

3. Technical inspection of a centrifuge research and development center

4. Systematic access to the workshops for manufacturing, assembling, and maintenance of the rotors of the centrifuges

5. Devising a treaty approach about the Arak Reactor

The Islamic Republic of Iran has fully and practically implemented 13 agreements it had earlier reached with the agency and expects that they should be properly reflected in the upcoming IAEA report on Iran.

The new Iran-IAEA agreement is the third of its kind in terms of the country's practical trust building steps.

The recent five-article Iran-agency agreement is signed under such conditions that some western and Israeli media, along with few hardliner Iranian media, had in recent days announced that the Iran-world powers' nuclear talks had reached a dead-end, or at best the beginning of a very "long and highly technical" course of negotiations and they had claimed that both sides were preparing themselves to announce the defeat of their joint efforts.

Iran is holding two separate tracks of talks over its nuclear program. The IAEA track centers on questions about Iranˈs past nuclear work. The countryˈs separate negotiations with the six world powers focus on efforts to limit Iranˈs future. In exchange, Iran would see tight US-led Western sanctions on the country lifted.

Iran has always been fully cooperating IAEA in gaining more insight into the countryˈs past nuclear work, and the two sides have in recent months deepened cooperation since last November as Iran closed in on an interim nuclear deal with the six powers.

Western officials say it is critical to know how advanced Iranˈs alleged past work was, as they seek to seal a comprehensive agreement.

A delegation of International Atomic Energy Agency experts arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to meet with representatives of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

The UN nuclear agency's delegation is led by IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards Tero Varjoranta. Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi was the head of the Iranian delegation.

During their one-day meeting, Iranian and IAEA experts evaluated the implementation of a framework agreement on further cooperation that Iran and the UN nuclear agency signed in Tehran last November and hold talks on further cooperation.

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Sunday that Tehran expects the UN nuclear watchdog to deal with Iran in a businesslike and not in a political way.

"Iran regards the agency a professional organization, though it is under the influence of powerful countries," Behrouz Kamalvandi said. "We are making efforts to act in a professional way and we expect the agency to treat Iran in a businesslike and non-political way," he explained.

IAEA inspectors visited two Iranian nuclear sites, namely the Saghand uranium mine and the Ardakan concentration plant, on May 6 and 7 as part of the framework agreement.

Iran and the IAEA also reached an agreement on the conclusion of a Safeguards Approach for the Arak heavy water reactor during a meeting in Tehran on May 5.

The agency's inspectors had previously visited the Arak heavy water site in Markazi Province and the Gachin uranium mine in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran under the framework accord.

According to Iranian officials, Iran has no commitments based on the safeguards agreement to allow such inspections, but it agreed to do so to show the country's will to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program.

The Iran-IAEA discussions are separate from, but closely linked to, negotiations between Tehran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Tags:
Latest

Latest