BICOM

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran yesterday signed an accord which will allow a greater degree of international oversight of Tehran’s nuclear development.

The agreement was announced by IAEA head Yukiya Amano and the head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi at a joint press conference in Tehran. The framework will allow broader access for international inspectors at the Arak heavy water plant, where it is thought plutonium is being developed which could be used in nuclear weapons production. Inspectors will also be permitted access to the Gachin uranium mine on the Gulf coast for the first time. The accord calls on Iran to provide further details of planned reactors. However, the agreement does not allow for access to a number of key nuclear sites, including the Parchin facility outside Tehran, where it is believed explosive tests have been carried out.

Although Salehi described the accord as “a roadmap that clarifies the mutual steps required for resolving the outstanding issues,” IAEA chief Amano commented that there is “still a lot of work to be done” and said that issues such as Parchin will be “raised in subsequent” meetings. Yesterday’s announcement comes as a proposed interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany) hangs in the balance, with negotiations scheduled to continue next week.

Addressing the failure to reach an agreement between the two sides in Geneva over the weekend, US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday told the BBC a deal had been “extremely close.” However, he dismissed suggestions that France had blocked a potential deal and suggested Iran had been reluctant to sign. He said during a stop in Abu Dhabi, “There was unity but Iran couldn’t take it… The French signed off on it, we signed off on it.”