End of Iran sanctions could come in weeks

IAEA director-genera Yukiya Amano
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Director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano said today that the IAEA Board of Governors has closed the file on the possible military dimensions (PMD) of Iran’s nuclear programme but that two further steps are required before the declaration of Implementation Day when nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the US, the UN and the EU will be lifted.

He said that first Iran must take required preparatory steps for the next phase of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and that, second, the IAEA must verify these steps.

Amano declined to say when he thought that Implementation Day would be but said that IAEA verification could be in “not days, not months.”

Analysts say that this suggests that Implementation Day will not be declared until the start of 2016. This is in line with forecasts made by Iranian and other officials close to the JCPOA process.

“It is difficult to say in quantitative manner,” Amano said. “I would say not too long. It doesn’t take too much time. But we (the IAEA) need to be given reasonable amount of time (for verification). This is very complex issue… It doesn’t take too much time. We need to have some time. Not days not months.”