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Verification of Iran N-program depends on secret agreement with IAEA

Nuclear Program Materials 29 July 2015 20:20 (UTC +04:00)
A senior nuclear expert believes that the verification of Iran N-program depends on a secret agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and this country's full cooperation with the UN body.
Verification of Iran N-program depends on secret agreement with IAEA

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

A senior nuclear expert believes that the verification of Iran N-program depends on a secret agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and this country's full cooperation with the UN body.

Secretary of State John Kerry insisted on July 28 the Barak Obama administration has not seen the contents of two side agreements to the Iran nuclear deal reached between that country and the IAEA.

Besides an agreement between Iran and P5+1 and signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran also signed an bilateral agreement with the IAEA to solve remaining disputes and answer the UN body's questions in coming weeks.

While ignoring the objections of both Iran and U.S. lawmakers, the implementation of nuclear agreement depends on verification of Iran's nuclear program by the IAEA. Tehran says the removal of sanctions based on nuclear agreement could start in four to six months. Iran has also asked the IAEA to keep the mutual agreement hidden.

Responding to a question about "how long a time is needed for the IAEA to prove Iran's nuclear activities have been totally peaceful and does the measures, mentioned in the nuclear agreement guarantee this program would remain peaceful?", Toby Dalton, Co-Director, Nuclear Policy Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Trend on July 29 that "first, how long it will take the IAEA to be able to say that Iran's program is totally peaceful will depend very heavily on how much Iran cooperates in the investigation of past activities. It could be five years, 10 years, or never - it is impossible to say at this point I think until we know more about the cooperation given by Iran to the IAEA, although the agreement does stipulate that the IAEA should be able to say in eight years that Iran's program is peaceful".

Iran has agreed to put restrictions in some nuclear activities from eight to 15 years.

The nuclear expert added that "second, the point that is not acknowledged by critics of the deal is that without these provisions in place through the deal, there would be no process for the IAEA to determine whether the program is peaceful or not. So compared to what existed before the deal, there is a much better chance the IAEA can carry out a thorough investigation that will reach conclusion".

"Third, there is no guarantee, either under the deal or not under the deal and regardless of the verification provisions in place, that Iran's nuclear program will remain peaceful. That is up to Iran. The deal certainly creates incentives and disincentives for Iran that should limit its desire to build nuclear weapons, and my view is that the deal is more likely to ensure that Iran's program is focused on nuclear energy than nuclear weapons than would a simple continuation of the sanctions regime in place," he said.

The U.S. Republicans argue that the achieved JCPOA is not enough to ensure Iran's nuclear program would remain peaceful, while Iranian hardliners says the agreement has damaged Iran's rights.

Edited by CN

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