IAEA and Iran strike three-month deal over nuclear inspections
Source: The Guardian
The UN’s nuclear inspectorate has struck a three-month deal with Iran giving it sufficient continued access to verify nuclear activity in the country, opening the space for wider political and diplomatic talks between Tehran and the US.
Iran will go ahead with its threat to withdraw this week from the additional protocol, the agreement that gives inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) intrusive powers.
However, following a weekend of talks with officials in Tehran, the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, announced that he had struck what he described as “a temporary bilateral technical understanding” that will mitigate the impact of Iran’s withdrawal from the protocol, and give the IAEA confidence that it can continue to verify Iran’s nuclear activity.
Grossi added that the move “salvages the situation” and avoids the position of the inspectors “flying blind”. He said the agreement, from which either side can withdraw, gave space for wider diplomatic discussions between the US and Iran to go ahead.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/21/iran-pushes-ahead-plan-cut-un-nuclear-inspections
Two ways to report this - the optmistic one above, or:
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says Iran has agreed to extend UN inspectors' access to its nuclear sites for three months.
But the hastily brokered agreement will give IAEA officials less access and end their right to make snap inspections.
Iran is changing its access policy from Tuesday because the US has not lifted the sanctions imposed since Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal.
Washington and Tehran now have more time to seek a compromise.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-56030497
Access without snap inspections makes me fear the Iranians would just hide the stuff they don't want the IAEA to see. It would look like things were OK when they weren't.
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