A key step in the implementation process occurred in Vienna on Tuesday, when the board of governors of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, voted to close their investigation of Iran’s past nuclear weapons efforts.
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The probe had to be formally ended as part of a July 14 deal between Iran and six nations that involves the removal of economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for its commitment to crimp its nuclear program. While the report ostensibly provides a complete assessment of Iran’s prior activities, it also acknowledges that the Islamic Republic had continued work on some elements of a nuclear weapons program at least until 2009, longer than previously believed.
Immediately following the October 10 launch, the U.S., France, Britain and Germany asked the Security Council to take “appropriate action” against Iran, and the 15-nation council is expected to discuss the report Tuesday.
An EU statement reflected the will to move on among board members. IAEA chief Amano also noted that the Iran issue had a “long and complex history” and that “the legacy of mistrust between Iran and the global community must be overcome”.
According to the resolution, the non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear program to weapon-grade activities is, once more, confirmed and its “peaceful nature” is emphasized, he said.
Security Council resolution 1929 was created in 2010 and bans Iran from engaging in ballistic missile tests.
“On the basis of its analysis and finding, the panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation by Iran of paragraph 9 of Security Council resolution 1929”, the 11-page report said.
In a statement prior to the board meeting, Amano called his December report on Iran’s activities “factual, technically sound and balanced”.
US officials said this month that Iran launched a second ballistic missile November 21.
A careful examination of the Director General’s report should lead the reader to conclude that Iran, over the past 20 years, made some considerable progress towards nuclear weapons acquisition, but that the country still had some way to go.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, September 19, 2013, characterized recent remarks by Iran’s new president regarding the standoff over his nation’s nuclear program as “very positive”, though he cautioned against jumping to the conclusion…
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.
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The organization said the agency’s decision to move on means it is “acquiescing to an incomplete accounting of Iran’s past nuclear weapons activity” and in doing so “weakens the credibility of its institution and lessens the prospect that Iran will comply with the [nuclear deal] in the future”. It said the Ghadr-1 is an advanced version of Iran’s Shabab-3 ballistic missile system and the re-entry vehicle possesses a guidance system and steerable fins. A sense of impunity for violators will not help this deal….Iran is the party breaking the rules, not the United States, by violating U.N. Security Council resolutions’.
