MPs Want IAEA to Avoid Biased Reports

Lawmakers criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency for its one-sided reports on Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, failing to investigate and verify the other side's commitments as well.

Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) concluded the agreement on July 14, 2015, and launched its full implementation six months later.

It eased international sanctions against Tehran in return for temporary curbs on its nuclear program.

A final assessment report presented by the UN nuclear agency to its board of governors in the last days of 2015 ended the agency's probe into Tehran's past and present nuclear activities, clearing the path for the nuclear pact to take full effect.

The IAEA is now tasked with monitoring and verifying Tehran's commitments.

The curbs on Tehran's nuclear work included cutting the enriched uranium stockpile to below 300 kg with a fissile purity of up to 3.67%, uninstalling two-thirds of nearly 19,000 centrifuges at Fordo and Natanz facilities and removing the core of the Arak nuclear reactor and filling it with cement.

Iran denies its nuclear work may have had any military objectives, saying the program is meant only for peaceful applications.

In its three reports so far, the Vienna-based agency has confirmed that Iran has completely complied with the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

But Iranian officials have complained about the lack of an effective mechanism to monitor the western side's unfulfilled commitments.    

"Currently, the UN agency is not monitoring the performance of P5+1 on the JCPOA and its periodic reports are one-sided, only investigating Iran's performance," lawmaker Farhad Falahati told ICANA on Saturday.

***Indifference

"Western countries' approach to the implementation of the action plan has been ignored by IAEA. International watchdog bodies are not monitoring the P5+1 commitments and IAEA reports only reflect Iran's side of the deal."

Iran has been expressing frustration and dismay over the lack of access to financing, funds and insurance from abroad, which it had expected to help jumpstart its sanctions-hit economy.

Residual US restrictions, including a ban on clearing Iran-related transactions through Washington's financial system, have made overseas banks and companies steer clear of deals with Iranians on fears of possible US retribution over even an unwitting sanctions violation.

Adding to complications, US Republican lawmakers, who control the House of Representatives and Senate and unanimously opposed the JCPOA, have introduced several anti-Iran measures to interfere with its implementation.

Jalil Rahimi, another member of parliament, said, "Compiling and publishing reports on western countries' performance on JCPOA could put them under public pressure by revealing that they are hampering the deal's implementation."

He called for government action to persuade the IAEA to also undertake the monitoring of the performance of six major powers in this regard.

Morteza Saffari, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, however, contended that the agency cannot be obliged to do so as it has not been envisaged in the pact.

"In my view, [it] is not among the agency's tasks and it is the Joint Commission that has been assigned by the deal to address Iran's complaints about the other side's lack of commitment," he said.

The commission is a panel of representatives from all JCPOA participants tasked by the pact to monitor it and address issues related to its implementation.