IAEA inspections at Iran’s nuclear facilities to not be stopped totally — Russian envoy

VIENNA (TASS): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will not stop its inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities after February 23, when a law on the suspension of the additional protocol to Iran’s safeguards agreement with the IAEA comes into effect, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said on Friday ahead of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s visit to Tehran on February 20.

Ulyanov recalled that the Iranian parliament had passed a law in December 2020 to suspend the additional protocol in Iran from February 23. “Apart from that, a number of transparency measures under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program will be terminated,” he said.

“On Saturday IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will fly to Tehran to discuss with the Iranian counterparts modalities of the Agency’s verification and monitoring activities in Iran in evolving circumstances. Results of these consultations will be made public by Sunday night. But whatever they might be, it is important to understand anyway that inspections will not be totally stopped but their number will probably be reduced considerably,” the Russian diplomat stressed.

“It should also be understood that Iran’s new restrictions concerning inspections will not necessarily last long,” Ulyanov noted. “Everything depends on political efforts towards resuming full implementation of the nuclear deal. The latest positive things in this context are statements by a high-ranking official from the European External Action Service on the readiness to organize a meeting of the current members of the Iran nuclear deal and the United States. The US Department of State has already said publicly that in case such an invitation is issued, it will accept it. It inspires certain optimism.”

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will visit Tehran on Saturday to discuss further development of cooperation with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) concerning inspections at Iran’s nuclear facilities under the JCPOA. The visit follows Iran’s notification of the IAEA about the enforcement of the law on ending snap IAEA inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities from February 23.