The New York Wall Street Journal reported today that the Obama administration had welcomed the submission of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran’s alleged nuclear-weapons work, and said it would likely pave the way for the removal of economic sanctions on Tehran as early as January.
It reported unidentified US officials as saying that Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA over the past five months is likely to be seen as sufficient to allow the deal to move ahead.
“Iran has provided what [the IAEA] says was sufficient,” said a senior U.S. official working on the implementation of the Iran deal, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The assessment’s conclusion that there were no indications that Iran was seeking to develop a nuclear weapon after 2003 conforms with an intelligence estimate put out by the George W. Bush administration in 2007.
The 35 nations that make up the IAEA’s Board of Governors will meet later this month to discuss the report. US officials said they expected the board to vote to close the investigation into Iran’s alleged weaponisation work and allow the JCPOA to move forward.