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| The Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossey, meets and speaks with reporters at Vienna International Airport on the 21st. © AFP=News1 |
The Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossie said on the 21st (local time) that a three-month “temporary solution” has been prepared to continue nuclear inspections of Iran.
According to AFP, Secretary General Grossey, who returned after meetings in Tehran, told reporters, “What we have agreed on is something feasible. It is useful to close the gap we have now, and this will save the situation.”
However, he explained that despite the three-month solution, the IAEA’s nuclear inspections were bound to be restricted. This is because from the 22nd, Iran will enter into force a bill that can suspend some nuclear inspections if sanctions from the United States are not lifted.
“If the law is applied, then, unfortunately, access is restricted,” said Mr. Grossey. “I can still maintain the necessary level of inspection and verification work.”
He did not mention specifically how nuclear inspections on Iran would be restricted, but said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran would not decrease and that inspections would continue under a tentative agreement with Iran.
Earlier, in April 2015, Iran agreed on a Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (JCPOA) with P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia + five countries with nuclear weapons + Germany) to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. The key point of the agreement is to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions easing.
However, Iran responded that when the then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally declared withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and restored sanctions in May 2018, it would begin activities that greatly exceed the standards stipulated in the nuclear agreement.
In particular, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it will stop implementing the additional protocol, which is based on the IAEA’s nuclear inspections, unless the JCPOA parties lift economic sanctions by the 21st.