IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei has submitted his most recent report, which includes discussion of concerns about Iran, to the Atomic Agency’s Board of Governors meeting in Vienna.
ElBaradei is sitting on both sides of the fence.
His report says: “Iran continues to provide the Agency access to its nuclear material and facilities, including the enrichment facility at Natanz, in accordance with its safeguards agreement. The Agency has been able to verify that no declared nuclear material in Iran has been diverted.
However, as the report also makes clear, Iran has not taken the steps called for by the Board nor responded to the demands of the [UN] Security Council…
ElBaradei’s statement continues: “The facts on the ground indicate that Iran continues steadily to perfect its knowledge relevant to enrichment, and to expand the capacity of its enrichment facility. Iran has also continued with the construction of its heavy water reactor at Arak.
…[T]his is taking place without the Agency being able to make any progress in its efforts to resolve outstanding issues relevant to the nature and scope of Iran´s nuclear programme, or being able to implement the additional protocol that would enable the verification of the absence of undeclared nuclear activities.
This dichotomy continues to be our key proliferation concern.
Iran also continues to put additional restrictions and limitations on the Agency’s verification activities – including on our right to re-verify design information at Arak. The lack of progress on our verification mission, coupled with the additional limitations on our verification authority, has resulted in a deterioration of the Agency’s level of knowledge regarding certain aspects of Iran´s nuclear programme. This is disconcerting and regrettable.
Against the background of many years of undeclared activities, and taking into account the sensitivity of nuclear enrichment technology, it is incumbent on Iran to work urgently with the Agency, under a policy of full transparency and active cooperation, in order for the Agency to be able to provide assurance regarding the exclusively peaceful nature of all of Iran’s nuclear activities. These assurances are the ultimate purpose of the verification process. They would certainly help to dispel the concerns of the international community regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. Transparency and cooperation by Iran would, therefore, be in the interest of not only the international community but also of Iran.
At this stage, I am increasingly disturbed by the current stalemate and the brewing confrontation – a stalemate that urgently needs to be broken, and a confrontation that must be defused. I continue to believe that dialogue and diplomacy are ultimately the only way to achieve the negotiated solution foreseen in the relevant Security Council resolutions”…
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Just to put this situation of Iran into some perspective, concerning the business of safeguards and additional protocols, ElBaradei also reported that “In 2006, the Agency implemented comprehensive safeguards agreements in 153 States. For 32 of the 75 States with additional protocols in force, the Secretariat was able to conclude that all nuclear material remained in peaceful activities. The Agency is working steadily to reach the same conclusion with respect to all other States with comprehensive safeguards agreements and additional protocols in force. At this stage, however, for those States as well as for States without additional protocols in force, the Secretariat could only conclude that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities. As of the end of 2006, 31 non-nuclear-weapon States party to the NPT had not yet fulfilled their obligation to bring comprehensive safeguards agreements with the Agency into force. For these States, the Agency does not perform any verification measures”…