IAEA Member States Entitled to Exclude Names from List of Inspectors

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asqar Soltanieh here on Tuesday stressed that all IAEA member states are entitled to omit some names from the list of inspectors the UN nuclear watchdog presents to them.

“According to the NPT Comprehensive Safeguard Agreement, all the member states are entitled to exclude name of whoever they wish from the list of appointed inspectors and they are not required to present explanations or the reason for their decision,” Soltanieh told FNA.

“Paragraph 85 of document Infcirc/153 of the Comprehensive Safeguard Agreement stresses this right,” he reiterated, adding, “Therefore, Iran’s decision for removing 38 of around the 200 inspectors appointed by the IAEA is fully natural.”

Asked if IAEA inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites have been halted, the nuclear official said that his country’s nuclear facilities and installations, including Natanz enrichment facility, are under the routine inspection program of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaoddin Boroujerdi told FNA here on Monday that the committee for revising Iran’s relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency has decided to deny granting entry permits to 38 IAEA inspectors.

Meantime, Boroujerdi stressed that the decision does not imply complete halt of Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA.

The lawmaker reiterated that Iran, as a signatory of the NPT and a member state of the IAEA, is loyal to its commitments, and thus, “inspections will be carried out within the relevant rules and regulations.”

Boroujerdi also said that inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites will continue on the basis of the mechanisms stipulated in the safeguard agreement.