Don't Let Iran Humiliate the IAEA Again

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

52% : The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors will meet next week in Vienna to consider a new assessment from the U.N. agency's chief nuclear watchdog that suggests Iran is concealing undeclared nuclear sites and material in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
52% : If Iran conducted undeclared nuclear weapons work at several sites, the IAEA board would be wise to ask where the associated materials and equipment are stored today.
50% : Parties to the NPT are required to declare nuclear material and activities to the IAEA, and the agency's findings could lead its Board of Governors to declare Iran in non-compliance with its treaty obligations.
46% : The board should also ask whether Iran has concealed other sites from the agency.
44% : The United States and the rest of the 35-nation board should respond forcefully -- rejecting any sanctions relief for the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism until Tehran submits to a complete and verifiable accounting of all its nuclear activities.
44% : In 2015, Grossi's predecessor, the late Yukiya Amano, left a permanent stain on the IAEA when he allowed Iran to stonewall the agency's requests, pursuant to the JCPOA, for access to key nuclear personnel and records.
42% : In addition to the latest stunning report from IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, the agency's upcoming board meeting takes place against the backdrop of last week's shocking revelation by the Wall Street Journal that Iran obtained confidential files outlining what the U.N. agency knew about Tehran's clandestine nuclear weapons program.
42% : Second, while the JCPOA had many fatal flaws, including allowing Iran to retain a domestic enrichment program alongside expiration dates on clauses banning key nuclear activities, its most fundamental failing was allowing any deal to proceed without first obtaining a complete and verifiable accounting of all the Islamic Republic's past and present nuclear activities -- especially the program's possible military dimensions.
40% : First, Iran was violating the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from the very start by hiding its nuclear weapons-related activities and sites from what was supposed to be the most intrusive verification regime in history.
39% : But without any pressure from his board of governors, the U.N. Security Council, or individual member states, Iran has no incentive to cooperate with the IAEA's safeguards investigation.
38% : In March, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced he would give Iran one last chance to explain how seemingly undeclared nuclear material showed up at undeclared nuclear sites -- with an eye toward presenting his conclusions at the agency's June board meeting.
36% : Iran then used that information to develop false but plausible narratives to deceive inspectors.
36% : Grossi on Monday reportedly circulated his findings to the board, stating that despite "numerous opportunities" to do so, "Iran has not provided explanations that are technically credible.
36% : Nor has Iran informed the Agency of the current location(s) of the nuclear material and/or equipment contaminated with nuclear material."
35% : Grossi has undoubtedly asked these questions of Iran since he replaced Amano in 2019.
33% : He has all but declared Iran in violation of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the NPT.
25% : Last week, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that prospects for reaching a deal with Tehran were now "tenuous at best," following President Biden's decision to reject Iran's request to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization list.

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