Iran welcomes latest report by United Nations nuclear watchdog

The inspectors found that Iran’s nuclear program was “suitable for the coordination of a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device” and that its experiments have “characteristics relevant to a nuclear explosive device”.

Toner said the report meant the IAEA would be able to close the file on whether Iran had sought nuclear weapons in the past, something Iran has been insisting on if it is to uphold its end of the deal with major powers.

“There’s no smoking gun in there but we didn’t exp-ect one”, one Vienna-base-d diplomat said of the report, but added: “Impor-tantly, it’s not a clear balance sheet for Iran”.

The new report on Iran’s nuclear program published Wednesday night by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is inconclusive and thus leaves all the parties in question dissatisfied. And by revealing what took place in the past, it further highlights the importance of ensuring that the Iranian nuclear agreement is successfully implemented, to make sure Tehran’s weapon-related activities are not resumed.

The IAEA’s board must now decide to what extent the agency will continue to examine whether Iran sought nuclear weap-ons in the past.

Iran has said it never sought nuclear weapons and insists its enrichment program is for peaceful uses only. They aren’t wrong to point out that elements are missing: The IAEA report sheds light on a number of Iran’s past activities, but is far from flawless.

This will hold true when Iran renegs on other aspects of the deal, including the “intrusive” inspections.

“It can be said that all measures regarding previous issues have been completely concluded and the PMD issue has been closed”, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television.

But in a brief preliminary evaluation of the IAEA report, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security cautioned against a speedy wrapping up of the matter.

In a letter Thursday to President Obama, Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland said they plan to call Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to testify on the deal’s implementation, along with other administration officials.

Iran has claimed all these years that its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian purposes. As Amano had already admitted a week before it was released, we should not expect a black/white report, with yes/no answers on Iran’s past behavior.

Those activities continued after 2003, though in a less coordinated manner, and there was no credible indication of any beyond 2009, the agency said.

The IAEA report mentions SPND once – in a footnote. He noted that the IAEA assessment was “consistent” with a National Intelligence Estimate in 2007 that Iran had stopped its nuclear program in 2003.

“If we can’t verify what Iran is doing, then we can’t be confident that they are not still continuing their nuclear program”, he said.

William Tobey of Foreign Policy magazine reported thought that the IAEA report shows that after 10 to 15 years when the central provisions of the nuclear deal will fade away, Iran will most probably launch again activities to create a nuclear explosive device and therefore the global community should be prepared for that day.