Despite the finding, the worldwide response to the report has been muted, reflecting a wish to press ahead with an accord that allayed fears of a wider Middle East war over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, rather than dwell on its past actions.
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A report released on December 2 by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano on Iran’s nuclear program confirmed that the agency has no credible indications of suspicious work in Tehran’s nuclear activities. While not all of the investigators’ suspicions were resolved, they reported that Iran had never diverted nuclear material to weapons use and stopped military-related activities in 2009.
Based on video footage of the October 10 launch, the panel said the Emad delivery system was identified as “the Ghadr-1 medium-range single stage liquid-fueled ballistic missile”.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the United Nations nuclear agency’s decision to close the books on a decade-long probe of allegations that Tehran worked on nuclear weapons is a “big success”.
ANNE BARKER: In a landmark report, the nuclear agency concludes Iran did carry out coordinated activities to develop a nuclear weapon before the end of 2003 – and that some activity took place after then. It moves Iran one step closer towards achieving major sanctions relief.
Iran’s Minister of Defense Hussien Dehghan told Iranian media that Emad is the first surface-to-surface ballistic missile fully designed and built by Iran, and can be precision-guided until it reaches its target.
While ballistic missile tests may violate U.N. Security Council sanctions, council diplomats note that such launches are not a violation of the nuclear deal, which is focused on specific nuclear activities by Iran.
Supporters of the July deal argue that it gives the IAEA far more intrusive powers to inspect Iran’s facilities and to monitor what it is doing, and that it extends the time Tehran would need to build an atom bomb if it chose to do so. Chief Iranian delegate Reza Najafi denied such work, in line with his country’s constant line throughout the protracted probe.
Security Council resolution 1929, which bans ballistic missile tests, was adopted in 2010 and remains valid until the nuclear deal is implemented.
On Tuesday, the Iranian senior nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, also said that following the IAEA resolution, the removal of global and Western sanctions against Iran will begin in early January 2016, according to official IRNA news agency.
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Korb, for his part, believes it was the UN Security Council which imposed sanctions on Iran, not the United States, adding that the closure of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear case will be a great opportunity to improve the country’s economy.
