IAEA to close file on Iran’s past nuclear activities

“Significant progress has been made on the Iran nuclear issue, but now is not the time to relax”, he said.

“The focus now appropriately moves toward full implementation of the JCPOA [nuclear deal] and its enhanced verification and transparency regime”, Kerry said in a statement.

Once the agency confirms that Iran has met its part of the deal, most individual and worldwide sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program will be lifted. Iran will also have to seek permission to import so-called dual-use goods, which could be used in an illicit nuclear program.

The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is expected Tuesday to officially close its more than decade-old investigation into allegations that Iran once worked to develop nuclear weapons. The next stage is for the IAEA to certify that Iran has scaled back its nuclear plants.

Despite Iranian denials, the US and its allies continue to believe that Tehran did work on components of a nuclear weapon. A panel of the UN Security Council’s experts is checking new information on the possible violations by Iran of the Council’s resolutions, the chairman of the UNSC committee on sanctions against Tehran, Roman Marchesi, has said. According to a July 20 resolution endorsing the deal, Iran is still “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles created to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for the United Nations Security Council to hold Iran accountable for an illicit ballistic missile test after a panel of experts assessment confirmed the October launch violated UNSC Resolution 1929.

Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says he had “no credible indications” of activities in Iran relevant to nuclear development after 2009.

The investigation into the world’s worst-kept secret, Iran’s nuclear weapons program, has been officially and formally closed.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the Security Council can not allow Iran to violate the resolution with impunity. The agreement bars Iran from developing missiles “designed to carry nuclear warheads”.

“Nothing has changed”, said Israel’s IAEA delegate, Merav Zafary-Odiz.

Just once the Vienna-based United Nations agency’s inspectors have confirmed that all the constraints are in effect will global sanctions battering the Iranian economy be lifted.

Iran is to receive relief from most-but not all-sanctions once it completes other provisions for implementing the deal, including removing the core of its plutonium reactor, scrapping much of its nuclear-fuel stockpile and removing thousands of centrifuges from its nuclear facilities.

On Monday, a Wall Street Journal editorial referred to both the missile tests and the instances of non-cooperation with the IAEA as reasons why the apparent United States strategy of non-confrontation may not be workable.