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Mr Chairperson,

My report on Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 covers relevant activities of the Agency in the past few months. Since 23 February 2021, Iran has not been implementing its nuclear-related commitments under JCPOA, including its commitments under the Additional Protocol.

As a consequence, the Agency has not been able to perform JCPOA verification and monitoring activities in relation to the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate (UOC) for almost two years, including some five months when the surveillance and monitoring equipment were not installed.

This will have a significant impact on the Agency’s ability to recover and re-establish the necessary continuity of knowledge in the event of a full resumption of implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA. Any future baseline for such JCPOA verification and monitoring activities would take a considerable time to establish and would have a degree of uncertainty. The longer the current situation persists the greater such uncertainty becomes.

You have received my report entitled NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In this report I express my serious concern that there has been no progress in clarifying and resolving the outstanding safeguards issues during this reporting period.

In that context, I hope that the planned technical meeting between the Agency and Iran takes place, but I want to stress that this meeting should be aimed at effectively clarifying and resolving those issues.

I trust that, when we meet, we are going to be able to start making the progress needed on these long-standing issues, the solution of which would bring more certainty and stability to the region and the world.

I reiterate that these issues stem from Iran’s obligations under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement between Iran and the Agency, and that they need to be resolved for the Agency to be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.

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