Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency agreed on a roadmap to resolve all outstanding safeguards issues about the country’s nuclear program by late June, potentially clearing the way for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The announcement was made following a meeting between the visiting IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami on Saturday in Tehran.
“We made arrangements to provide documents related to outstanding questions between Tehran and the agency by the end of Khordad [the Iranian month ending on June 21],” Eslami said in a joint press conference, ISNA reported.
He said the alleged cases must be closed forever and no longer cause trouble for the Iranian people.
Grossi’s trip to Tehran was part of the IAEA’s efforts to address questions about nuclear material that the Vienna-based agency suspects Iran failed to declare.
The IAEA claims to have found particles of processed uranium at three apparently old sites that Iran never declared and has repeatedly said Tehran has not provided satisfactory answers.
The issue has disrupted ongoing talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to restore the JCPOA, which has been unravelling since the United States quit in 2018 and restored tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to roll back on its nuclear commitments in response.
Tehran wants the issue of alleged uranium traces to be closed while Western powers say that is a separate issue to the deal to which the IAEA is not a party.
The agreement between Iran and the agency comes as all parties involved in Vienna talks have said they were close to reaching an agreement.
Grossi said discussions to address the safeguards problems run parallel with Vienna talks and are interconnected.
“If Iran and the agency do not have an understanding about these safeguards issues, realizing a comprehensive agreement like the JCPOA is unimaginable,” he said in the press conference.
He added that “there are still matters that need to be addressed by Iran.”
Reimplementation Day
Grossi described his meeting as fruitful, adding that they tried to discuss the matters in a pragmatic and systematic way, because a final success is much needed.
“This is a critical time but a positive outcome for everyone is possible,” he had tweeted prior to his trip.
He also held discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian before his departure on Saturday evening.
Eslami told reporters that they agreed to completely settle the problems before the Reimplementation Day, which is a presumption of Vienna talks, like the cases that were closed before the JCPOA was signed in 2015.
Reimplementation Day is a postulated date by which the JCPOA would be back in place, around one to three months after a basic agreement is reached in Vienna.
“Based on the agreement with the IAEA, we will do it by [late June], and if anyone creates disruption on our way, we have the authority to use our tools,” he said, in a reference to Israel’s threats.
In addition to the safeguards issue, other recent sticking points in Vienna are thought to have involved Iran’s request that the US lift one of the designations of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and some form of economic guarantees or compensation if the US would quit the deal again.
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