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The IAEA Did Its Part regarding Iran, Now It's Time for the World to Act

(Newsweek-Foundation for Defense of Democracies) Brig.-Gen. (res.) Jacob Nagel and Andrea Stricker - The new report of the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Iran's implementation of its agreements under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) paints a disturbing picture of Tehran stonewalling the agency on an investigation into alleged undeclared nuclear materials and activities directly related to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran, an NPT member, is party to legally binding accords - which are separate from the 2015 nuclear deal - that require Tehran to provide complete declarations about its use and production of nuclear material and to permit immediate and unrestricted inspections by the IAEA at any site the agency deems necessary to visit. Since the end of January 2020, Tehran has refused the IAEA access to two nuclear sites of concern and declined to answer questions about a third. The IAEA can go only so far in investigating and reporting on its findings. It has done its job to report Iran's non-compliance, and it is now up to the board of governors to act. The board can support the agency by passing a resolution by 2/3 of its 35 members finding Tehran in breach of the NPT. It is past time for the world to unite around the threat of Iran's nuclear program. This should start with the IAEA's board of governors recognizing that Tehran's nuclear program is not peaceful. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Jacob Nagel, a senior fellow at FDD, served as head of Israel's National Security Council. Andrea Stricker is a research fellow focusing on nonproliferation at FDD.
2020-06-15 00:00:00
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