IAEA Inspectors Should Be Approved by Iran: Senior MP

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi stressed on Wednesday that inspectors appointed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify nuclear Safeguards in Iran should be approved by Tehran. 

  
One of the main issues agreed upon about the IAEA inspections is that the inspectors should be approved by Iran, Boroujerdi said, adding that otherwise, they would not be able to visit Iran’s sites.

“The IAEA appoints inspectors for visiting Iranian nuclear sites and preparing reports on the country’s nuclear activities, but if we do not approve them, they would not be permitted to enter Iran,” he reiterated.

Therefore, the senior lawmaker noted, Iran is not worried about a new office the IAEA has established to verify Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear commitments as per a nuclear deal with world powers implemented on January 16.

“The inspections and even the establishment of this office are carried out within the framework of the agreements reached (between the two sides),” Boroujerdi added.

Earlier this week, the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano announced he had established a new Office of Safeguards Verification in Iran in the Department of Safeguards on March 1st.

He also once again reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, saying the IAEA has no indications of a diversion of nuclear material toward non-civilian purposes.

“The Agency has found no indication of the diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities in Iran,” Amano said in his introductory statement to the Board of Governors on Monday.

On February 26, the IAEA had released its first regular report since the implementation of the nuclear deal, which verified Iran’s commitment to the agreement.