Iran, IAEA reach agreement on inspection method of Arak reactor

Tehran, May 7, IRNA – An official in Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) told IRNA Tuesday that AEOI and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reached agreement on method of inspection of Arak heavy water reactor. The informed official who spoke to IRNA Political Desk reporter on condition of anonymity added that the IAEA delegation headed by Deputy Director General of IAEA Department of Safeguards for B Region Massimo Aparo on Monday reached the agreement in a meeting in the presence of the Arak reactor officials with the AEOI officials. He said that inspecting the Arak reactor is among the seven point agreement between the IAEA and the AEOI head. Asked if that agreement is on the method of the inspections, the informed official replied positively, adding that there is no particular problem in that respect. In reply to another question on Saghand mine and the Ardekan concentration plant in Yazd, as two other points of the seven point agreements, too, he said that the IAEA inspectors visited the former one on Tuesday and is scheduled to visit the latter one on Wednesday. The Deputy Director General of IAEA Department of Safeguards for B Region (including Iran) Massimo Aparo arrived in Tehran early Monday morning. The AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi had earlier told IRNA that Mr. Aparoˈs visit of Iran was aimed at preparing a report on the implementation of the first phase of the Geneva Joint Plan of Action for the IAEA. Kamalvandi had added that Aparoˈs May 6th and 7th inspections of Saghand mine and Ardekan concentration plant in Yazd were aimed at completing his report for the agency. He said that the two-day inspections cover two of the seven point agreement in the framework of the Geneva Joint Plan of Action. A three-member IAEA delegation is visiting Iran in line with a seven-point agreement reached earlier between Tehran and the Agency. The delegation, headed by senior IAEA expert Massimo Aparo, arrived in Tehran in early hours of Monday morning. The senior IAEA inspectors also held a meeting with Iranian officials at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran on Monday. At the end of an earlier visit to Iran by IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Tero Tapio Varjoranta that took place in February, Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement on seven practical measures to be implemented by Tehran as voluntary measures by May 15, 2014. Iran has agreed to provide mutually agreed relevant information and managed access to the Saghand uranium mine and the Ardekan concentration plant. Following the visit, the inspectors will provide a report on the seven agreed practical measures, and any outstanding issues will be discussed in future rounds of talks. Iran and the IAEA signed a joint statement in November 2013 to outline a roadmap on mutual cooperation on certain outstanding nuclear issues. Under the deal, Iran agreed, on a voluntary basis, to allow IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water plant in central and the Gachin uranium mine in southern Iran. The IAEA inspectors visited the Arak heavy water plant on December 8, 2013, as the first step in mutual cooperation under the Iran-IAEA agreement. The IAEA inspectors also paid a five-hour visit to the Gachin uranium mine in late January. end