IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
Statement by HE Dr Brendon Hammer, Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Agenda Item 5 (c) (Syria): Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic
7 March 2018
Chair,
The Syrian Arab Republic’s lack of action to address outstanding questions about its facilities and activities at the Dair Alzour site remains of high concern to Australia. We very much regret that there has been no progress on this matter over successive years despite the efforts made by the IAEA.
We thank the Director General for his continued work to address Syria’s non-compliance with its safeguards obligations and for his regular reporting to the Board of Governors on this matter.
Chair,
Once again, Australia urges Syria to fully cooperate with the Agency in line with the Resolution adopted by this Board in June 2011 and in accord with subsequent requests from the Director General. Until this occurs, we will continue to draw attention to Syria’s non-compliance.
And in this connection – just to be clear – it remains Australia’s position that any instance of non-compliance with nuclear safeguards obligations such as this should be treated as a matter of considerable concern by the IAEA Board of Governors, and should certainly remain on the Board’s agenda until such time as it is satisfactorily addressed and resolved.
Thank you.