Iran-IAEA cooperation enters new phase: Salehi

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi (L) and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano speak to reporters in Tehran on January 18, 2016. © Fars News Agency

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi says the Islamic Republic’s cooperation with the UN nuclear agency has entered a new phase.

Salehi made the remarks in a joint press conference with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano, in Tehran on Monday as part of his first visit after the beginning of the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Salehi said Amano's visit sends "many messages." 

“Through [Amano’s] visit [to Tehran], we will witness the opening of a new chapter in cooperation between Iran and the agency. We want to make up for the 10-12-year lost opportunities in relations with the agency,” Salehi said.

He added that the IAEA chief is visiting Tehran at a time when “there is no longer such an issue as the fabricated nuclear dossier of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The AEOI head noted that during his talks with Amano, the sides had worked on a roadmap for fresh cooperation after the JCPOA implementation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday read out a joint statement in the Austrian capital, Vienna, announcing that the JCPOA had indeed come into force.

According to the statement, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the US are lifted.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany finalized the JCPOA in Vienna, on July 14, 2015.

Additional Protocol implementation vital: Amano

Amano, for his part, said Iran and the IAEA agreed to strengthen cooperation after the JCPOA implementation.

He stressed the importance of making constant efforts in the future and said it is very important to implement the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Tehran has agreed to provisionally apply the Additional Protocol as a confidence-building gesture under the country’s nuclear deal with the P5+1.

Amano said Iran and IAEA must continue impartial and non-political efforts.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told reporters on Sunday that Tehran will continue to implement the additional protocol voluntarily. The protocol gives vast access to the IAEA inspectors to Iran's nuclear sites with no or a short notice.


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