Global nuclear watchdog votes unanimously to close book on Iran’s nuclear past

“The selection by the Board of Governors today … will start a new phase for co-operation between Iran and the agency”, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters following the resolution was passed by consensus – that is, unopposed. “We know Iran concealed its nuclear weapons development and yet the investigation into possible military dimensions is now closed despite their deception”.

That roadmap granted the IAEA increased access to key materials and facilities in Iran throughout the fall, and led to a December 2 agency report which found Tehran had conducted activities consistent with weaponization work over the course of several years.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will vote Tuesday on a resolution over whether Iran, which has vast oil reserves it hopes to bring to global markets, has successfully curbed these activities.

Many critics of the Obama administration’s tepid response to those missile tests have also been in opposition to the July 14 nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said he believes that economic sanctions against Tehran could be lifted within the next three weeks, following the decision made by the IAEA.

“JCPOA Implementation Day will occur when the Agency has verified that Iran has implemented measures specified in that agreement. This decision to whitewash the past represents an inauspicious beginning to the implementation process of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”. Iran has strongly denied pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme. The agreement trades Iran sanctions relief for restrictions on its nuclear program. The arms embargo imposed by UN Security Council will be kept in place for five years, ban for supplying ballistic missile technologies to Iran – for eight years. However, the agency said Iran’s activities weren’t advanced and that there was no evidence Iran had continued the work after 2009. Furthermore, it points out that Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA probe was limited and was characterized by periodic efforts to stonewall and mislead nuclear inspectors.

Former senior IAEA Tariq Rauf said Iran had been living up to its obligations. He is the author of the newly published ‘Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare’.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, September 19, 2013, characterized recent remarks by Iran’s new president regarding the standoff over his nation’s nuclear program as “very positive”, though he cautioned against jumping to the conclusion…

The statement echoed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whoearlier this month released a statement asserting that “Israel expects the worldwide community to continue its investigation through the IAEA on these issues”, adding that “without completing this investigation, the world will not know how far Iran went in its secret program, and what its current status is”.

Still, most of his comments were low-key and forward-looking – the USA participated in drawing up the resolution ending the investigation along with the other nations that negotiated the deal with Iran – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.