Iran expects IAEA to monitor JCPOA implementation fairly: Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran expects the UN nuclear monitoring agency to be “fair” in overseeing the implementation of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of world countries.

“In implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will voluntarily execute the Additional Protocol and we hope that you will supervise the implementation of the JCPOA agreement fairly,” Rouhani said in a meeting with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano in Tehran on Sunday.

The Iranian president also said that the IAEA will have an “influential role” to play in the implementation of Iran’s nuclear agreement with the global powers, reached in Vienna in July.

“We hope that this body, by fulfilling its obligations, will step up its operations in the coming months with regard to helping scientific progress in [member] countries including Iran,” Rouhani said.
Rouhani added that the IAEA is tasked with monitoring the nuclear activities of countries in a bid to prevent any diversion on the one hand and helping countries “benefit from cutting-edge peaceful nuclear technology” on the other.

“Our expectation from the Agency is not more than what is enshrined in its Statute and we do not have any demand beyond the Safeguards Agreement [in effect] between Iran and the Agency,” said the Iranian president.

Rouhani also reaffirmed Iran’s rejection of nuclear weapons on religious grounds, saying the IAEA has confirmed through its “snap inspections” in recent years that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program has had no military objective.

For his part, Amano reassured Rouhani that the IAEA will draw up its reports on Iran’s nuclear program impartially and based on realities.

He also gave a positive assessment of Iran-IAEA cooperation, saying the UN body is interested in concluding outstanding issues with Iran through dialogue.

He said IAEA inspectors’ report on possible military dimensions (PMD) will help accelerate the implementation of JCPOA.

On July 14, Iran and the IAEA signed a road map for “the clarification of past and present issues” regarding Tehran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital Vienna. The agreement was reached on the same day Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – finalized the JCPOA in Vienna.

As part of the road map, the IAEA is required to finish its investigations about Iran’s nuclear activities and submit a report to the agency’s board by December 15.

The IAEA chief arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a day of talks with senior Iranian officials on the implementation of the road map.