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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on the agency’s assessment of Iran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed in July will be submitted to the IAEA board of governors next week, but the decision whether the Islamic Republic is in compliance with the nuclear roadmap will be the responsibility of the governors, IAEA director general Yukiya Amano said today
The report by the IAEA is required under JCPA, which provides for a lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
“The report will not be black and white,” Amano told a news conference when asked about the final assessment of possible military dimensions, or PMD, file which is due next week.
In November 2011, the IAEA issued an annex to a regular report on Iran, listing twelve issues which could indicate Iran might have had a nuclear weapons program.
Iran denies these allegations, but the IAEA, which says it takes no information at face value, has described the intelligence from its member states which formed the basis of the PMD file as “overall credible”.
The investigation leading to the report had given the agency a better understanding of the “whole picture” of Iran’s past nuclear activities, Amano said, but gaps remained.
“What I can now say is that this is an issue that cannot be answered by ‘yes’ and ‘no’,” Amano said.
Iran took the crucial hurdle towards sanctions relief with respect to the PMD file on 15 October, when it provided the agency with enough data to allow the written assessment.
When asked about the likely response, Amano said the PMD document would be “factual” and that any decision on further investigation was in the hands of the IAEA’s member states.