© IAEA An IAEA employee analyzes material at a plutonium laboratory in Austria. The IAEA is ready to begin technical work after the signing of a memorandum between the United States and Iran Peace and Security
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi welcomed the signing of an initial memorandum between Iran and the United States aimed at ending the war and announced the agency’s readiness to begin practical work, including a review of Iran’s nuclear program.
“We believe that recognizing the indispensable role of the IAEA is a good starting point,” Grossi told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.
The agency will now have to “sit down at the negotiating table” with its American and Iranian counterparts to develop concrete steps to implement what has been achieved, he said. agreements.
Negotiations within 60 days
According to media reports, the memorandum provides for negotiations to be held for no more than 60 days with the aim of concluding a final agreement. One of the key issues remains the enrichment of uranium by Iran, while Tehran must confirm that it has no intentions to create nuclear weapons.
The document also provides for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz for international shipping and the easing of US and UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.
In addition, among the main provisions of the memorandum – “an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.” negotiations.
“We are just beginning this process and must assume that all parties are acting in good faith and are interested in achieving success,” he noted.
Commenting on the possibility of a concerted reduction in the level of uranium enrichment in Iran, the head of the IAEA emphasized that there are many solutions.
“There are different alternatives. Iran’s current stockpile contains materials of varying degrees of enrichment, and we’ll see what the parties agree on,” he said. level.
At the same time, contacts with the Iranian authorities continue, and the IAEA, according to him, has a “fairly clear idea” of what objects and in what places it is necessary to gain access.
“Right now, I would say, can the real technical work will begin,” the head of the agency emphasized. The Agency is an autonomous organization within the UN system and is accountable to the General Assembly and the Security Council.
The IAEA’s headquarters are in Vienna. The agency has 180 member states. It is responsible for objective monitoring of nuclear facilities, monitoring compliance with nuclear safety standards, preparing reports on the nuclear activities of states, and promoting the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.