Nuclear Chief Briefs Lawmakers on Status of Cooperation With IAEA

Iran’s nuclear chief briefed lawmakers on the latest status of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in a recent meeting. 
The meeting was held within the framework of the parliament’s task of supervising the full implementation of the law, dubbed “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests,” Ali Khezrian, spokesman for the Article 90 of the Constitution Commission of the Majlis, told ICANA. 
At the beginning of the session, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami presented a report of different aspects of the agreement signed with the IAEA in March and its status of compliance with the said law, he said. 
The parliamentary action plan is part of Iran’s broader strategy that aims to retrieve the lost balance in the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
The JCPOA had restricted Iran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief, but the United States pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to react by rowing back on its commitments. 
Passed in December 2020, the bill sets out countermeasures to be taken by the government until the sanctions are fully removed.  
Those steps included limitations to Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA as per the terms of the JCPOA, while maintaining compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. 

Question of Compliance 

Early this year, top officials from the IAEA held talks with Iranian nuclear authorities to resolve certain ambiguities, which led to the signing of a joint agenda in March. 
During the parliamentary briefing, members of the Majlis Commission found that the agreement was in contravention of the strategic action plan, as well as the Leader’s insistence on non-violation of the law, Khezrian asserted. 
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stressed in a recent address that the parliamentary law must be observed and that no commitment should be taken beyond the CSA in any agreement. 
Citing an IAEA report, Khezrian said 10 cameras not required by the CSA have been installed in a centrifuge manufacturing workshop in Isfahan. 
Besides, the IAEA has, for the first time, installed enrichment monitoring devices (EMD) at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz.
This, according Khezrian, is not only against the strategic action plan, but also beyond the requirements of the JCPOA which mentions Online Enrichment Monitor, or OLEM, as the measurement device. 
He said the difference between the two devices has to be cleared up.
It also turned out during the briefing that the Majlis was not informed about the details of the agreement with the IAEA, according to Khezrian. 
Fada Hossein Maleki, member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, however, dismissed the claims, saying any negotiation or agreement with the IAEA or over the JCPOA has been based on the parliamentary law so far. 
He added that possible reservations by the Iranian side have been discussed and approved in the National Security Commission or the Supreme National Security Council. 
“Such a matter [violation of the parliamentary law] has not been raised so far by the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, as the main and specialized commission for reviewing this issue,” he said. 
He added that this commission has held meetings with AEOI officials and deputy foreign minister for political affairs, as well as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, to make an accurate judgement about this issue. 
After the agreement in March, AEOI officials attended a meeting at the parliament and explained the details to the members of the commission, who later told the media that the deal was in compliance with the law and there was no breach.