IAEA Board of Governors Meeting: 21 September 2016
Statement by Mr David Lewis, Alternate Permanent Representative to the IAEA
Item 7: Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)
Mr Chair,
The Australian delegation thanks the Director General for his 8 September report (GOV/2016/46) entitled, ‘Verification and Monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)’.
We appreciate the professional job being undertaken by the Director General and his staff in monitoring and verifying Iran’s implementation of the E3/EU+3-Iran Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The Director General advises in his report that activities being carried out in Iran are within the scope agreed under the JCPOA, and that Iran has not exceeded the limits set out in the JCPOA.
We welcome advice that Iran continues to provisionally apply the Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement, pending entry into force, and has submitted its declarations under the Additional Protocol.
We also welcome advice that the Agency has continued to conduct complementary accesses under the Additional Protocol to sites and other locations in Iran.
We encourage Iran to continue to meet the commitments it has undertaken. This is the only clear path to Iran building international confidence in its nuclear program.
The Director General’s reports are designed to support this process, by helping build and maintain the trust of the Board, and of Member States more generally, that the JCPOA is being faithfully implemented. We would welcome additional information in future reports. In our view, they should provide enough information to build confidence and follow the record of implementation of the JCPOA over many years. Such transparency is in keeping with the clear expectation of the Board – including in its resolution of 15 December.
Australia supports the public release of the Director General’s report GOV/2016/46.