Iran, IAEA agree to resume inspections at nuclear facilities

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that a deal has been struck with Iran to resume cooperation on inspections of Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

• “Indispensable” monitoring by the IAEA ended in June, when Israel and US-backed airstrikes targeted Iran’s nuclear power installations.

• On July 2, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law adopted by the Parliament suspending all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. 

• That followed Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, during which Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear sites.

• The agreement, struck between IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at a meeting in Cairo, should in principle pave the way for a full resumption of inspections interrupted by the military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.

• The latest development follows the announcement by France, Germany and the UK of their intention to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran within 30 days, under the so-called “snapback” mechanism contained in the Iranian nuclear agreement signed in July 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, in addition to Germany, the EU and Iran.

International Atomic Energy Agency

• Widely known as the ‘Atoms for Peace and Development’ organisation within the United Nations family, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the world’s central inter-governmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.

• The agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

• The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology. The agency’s genesis was US President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 8, 1953.

• The US Ratification of the Statute by President Eisenhower on July 29, 1957, marks the official birth of the IAEA.

• In October 1957, the delegates to the First General Conference decided to establish the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

• The IAEA has 180 Member States.

• India is a founding member of IAEA.

• The IAEA has also two regional offices located in Toronto and Tokyo, as well as two liaison offices in New York City and Geneva. The agency runs laboratories specialised in nuclear technology in Vienna, Seibersdorf and Monaco.

• The IAEA’s policy-making bodies decide on the agency’s programmes and budgets. They comprise the General Conference of all Member States and the 35-member Board of Governors. The General Conference convenes annually at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, typically in September. The Board meets five times per year, also in Vienna.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)