Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic related to its nuclear program. Under buy-backs, they had to stick to development plans agreed upon before work began and were barred from exploring new areas.
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If this sounds familiar, it should.
“We have always announced that the issues raised about the Iranian nuclear program’s past lack validity”, Zarif said Sunday at a news conference in Tehran. In March, Amano repeated this theme, saying, “Iran was not providing sufficient cooperation to enable the Agency to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran was in peaceful activities”. “We want that stream to turn into a big river”, he stated.
Two years later the agency went public. Proceeding with the deal in the absence of the resolution of those questions would be a retreat in the administration’s position.
In a recent article for the UK’s Guardian newspaper, environmental expert Kaveh Madani and political analyst Nazanin Soroush say reports suggest that that Iran’s petrol carries ten times the level of contaminants of imported petrol. As for diesel, it contains 800 times the worldwide standard of sulphur. Iran has denied the claims. It says nothing about the kind of information required.
Americans opposed to the deal will reopen debate over whether the IAEA can be trusted to carry out tough verification measures, providing new ammunition to Republican presidential candidates who have said they would tear up the agreement.
As the AP notes, the head of the IAEA has “been careful to diminish expectations, describing his upcoming report last week as ‘not black and white.'” And according to the AP, Iranian officials have spoken about the IAEA probe using similar language, “suggesting they already know that the agency’s conclusions won’t be damning”.
Moreover, the JCPOA contains a mechanism for UN sanctions to “snap back” into place if a dispute, for example regarding ongoing Iranian compliance with IAEA obligations, is not resolved favourably within a given timescale and the UN Security Council does not vote otherwise.
Meanwhile, in a statement delivered to the IAEA Board of Governors, the Non-Aligned Movement once against expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program.
The file concerns allegations that at least until 2003 Iran conducted research into how to make a nuclear weapon. “Later, the precedent of the Parchin deal could weaken the IAEA’s ability to verify the JCPOA”.
He added that based on the roadmap, Iran and the IAEA should hold a wrap-up meeting before the agency gives its final assessment on the so-called possible military dimensions (PMD).
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Mining now only plays a minor role in the Iranian economy; however, the Iranian leadership is actively seeking to promote growth in its mining sector to reduce its dependency on oil.
