The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency has said it will need more money to fulfill the requirements of the nuclear agreement signed by the U.S.-led delegation of world powers with Iran.
Speaking in Vienna to Reuters, IAEA director Yukiya Amano said that under the plan, the annual cost to the agency will be $10.63 million (9.2 million euros) – a sum he has asked member states to provide.
The 800,000 euros per month the agency has already received will be gone by the end of September, Amano said. The funds were made available by member states via discretionary funding contributions, he said.
The White House, meanwhile, has praised the UN nuclear agency for its quality safeguards and standards in developing its inspection plan for Iran’s Parchin military site.
“The fact is that the arrangements between Iran and the IAEA are sound and consistent with the IAEA’s long-established practice,” White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said Monday at a briefing with journalists.
According to a secret agreement with the IAEA and Iran revealed last week by The Associated Press, it will be Iranian inspectors who are authorized to inspect Iran’s Parchin military complex.
Parchin, located about 20 miles southeast of Tehran, has been suspected of being used in the development of a nuclear weapon.
According to “Separate Arrangement II” Iran decides which photos and videos are “safe” enough to pass to UN inspectors and which are not, “taking into account military concerns.”
At a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Commitee, Amano refused to confirm the IAEA would have physical access inside Parchin.
Former deputy IAEA director-general Olli Heinonen told the AP he “could think of no similar concession with any other country.”