The United States has expressed serious concerns about Iran's lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding its nuclear program. Speaking at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Howard Solomon, Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, acknowledged the efforts made by the Director General and his team to verify Iran’s implementation of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Solomon stated that despite extensive attempts by the IAEA over more than five years to resolve questions about undeclared nuclear sites and activities linked to Iran’s pre-2004 clandestine nuclear program, "Iran consistently failed to do so." He referenced a resolution adopted by the Board in June that found Iran in noncompliance with its safeguards agreement and called for urgent corrective action.
Since that resolution, Solomon said, "Iran has not engaged at all on the unresolved safeguards issues. Instead, Iran has done the opposite. It has now ceased implementing its most basic and fundamental obligations under its safeguards agreement, including by not providing the IAEA with required design information and other reporting related to declared nuclear facilities, and by not facilitating access by the IAEA for the purposes of verifying that information." He warned that this represents a "near-complete and prolonged loss of required information and access."
Solomon emphasized that "Iran does not get to pick and choose when and how to implement its legally binding safeguards obligations" and called for full cooperation with both standard agreements and additional protocols.
He noted an announcement earlier in the day from the Director General stating that an agreement had been reached between Iran and the IAEA for resumption of verification activities. However, Solomon stressed: "We reiterate that immediate and concrete action by Iran is both essential and urgent. If Iran’s failure to cooperate with the IAEA continues, and it is not fully implementing its safeguards obligations,this Board will need to be prepared to take further action to hold Iran accountable."
He concluded by urging Iran to change course: "Iran has both an obligation and an opportunity to change course and genuinely cooperate with the IAEA. We hope it takes this opportunity."
The United States requested that the Director General’s report be made public.