IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
Statement by HE Dr Brendon Hammer, Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Agenda Item 4 (Iran): Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)
5 March 2019
Thank you, Chair.
Chair,
Australia attaches the highest importance to the Agency’s activities in Iran under the JCPOA.
Australia’s continued support for the JCPOA is informed by ongoing advice from the Director General that Iran is fully implementing its nuclear commitments under the Plan.
We thank the Director General and the Secretariat for the report of 22 February 2019 contained in GOV/2019/10, and for the Agency’s technical briefing of 27 February 2019.
We commend the Agency on its regular and detailed briefings.
Chair,
Australia welcomes the Director General’s advice that, under the Additional Protocol. The Agency has been able to gain access to all of the sites and locations in Iran, which it has “needed to visit”.
Iran’s cooperation with the Agency in providing complementary access visits under the Additional Protocol enhances confidence that the JCPOA is working.
Chair,
We note that the Agency has continued – since implementation of the JCPOA – to make evaluations to determine that there are no undeclared nuclear activities or materials in Iran that would be non-compliant with the JCPOA.
Australia values the independence, rigour and professionalism that the Agency has brought to this task.
Moreover, we fully respect the Agency’s independence in making these evaluations, and its independence in determining how to assess, and whether, and how, to action any relevant information it acquires.
Chair,
Australia continues to have full confidence in the Agency’s ability to provide authoritative advice that can enable determination of whether Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA.
We support the public release of the Director General’s report GOV/2019/10 of 22 February 2019.
Thank you.