International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Yukiya Amano has asked the agency’s Board of Governors for €9.2m ($10.6m) a year in extra funds to cover the "special arrangement" with Iran.
The Board was considering the UN Security Council’s resolution 2231, which requests the IAEA to undertake verification and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Amano said about €3m would be for provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol and €6.2m for verification and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA, including the cost of IAEA inspectors.
Amano stressed he was not proposing any changes to the IAEA’s Regular Budget for 2016 but would meet all additional costs until the end of 2016 through extra-budgetary contributions. For 2017 and beyond, Amano said he would consult with member states on implications for the Regular Budget for 2017. Immediate funding needs related to the continuing costs of implementing monitoring and verification under the JPCOA total €800,000 a month and extra-budgetary contributions previously received for this purpose will be "exhausted" by the end of September.
Under the JCPOA, Iran has agreed to implement extra nuclear-related commitments, which are known as transparency measures. These include enhanced access for IAEA inspectors to uranium mines and mills, and continuous surveillance of centrifuge manufacturing and storage locations. Amano said that these measures "go beyond the scope" of Iran’s comprehensive safeguards agreement and additional protocol and will help the agency to have a better understanding of Iran’s nuclear programme. A Joint Commission consisting of the E3/EU+3 and Iran will be established to monitor the implementation of the JCPOA, he said.
