IAEA Member States Note Safeguards Work Continues
IAEA Member States meeting at the General Conference today commended the IAEA's nuclear verification in Iraq from November 2002 to March 2003. They further noted that the Security Council intends to revisit the mandates for both the Agency and the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Commission.
In a statement by General Conference President Yukio Takasu of Japan, the Conference also expressed appreciation for IAEA verification activities of on safeguarded material. The statement noted with satisfaction that there is not proliferation risk from the type and quantity of uranium compounds at the Baghdad Yellowcake Facility, and expressed appreciation for the IAEA's continuing safeguards activities under Iraq's NPT safeguards agreement.
The report on Iraq to the General Conference noted that, in the four months during which the IAEA was able to resume its Security Council mandated inspections in Iraq, the Agency made significant progress in assessing the status of the country’s nuclear-related capabilities. However, the Agency did not have sufficient time to resolve completely the key questions of whether Iraq’s nuclear activities and capabilities had changed since December 1998. The Security Council has underlined its intentions to revisit the IAEA’s and UNMOVIC’s mandates. Until that occurs, the mandate of the Agency remains valid under the appropriate resolutions.
In his statement to the General Conference earlier this week, IAEA Director General ElBaradei underlined that the Agency’s mandate in Iraq under various Security Council resolutions still stands. He noted that in May, the Security Council adopted resolution 1483 in which, inter alia, it expressed its intention to revisit the mandates of the IAEA and the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).
"We are awaiting the results of that review and further guidance from the Council," the Director General said. "In the meantime, I hope to be kept informed of the outcome of any current activities in Iraq that are relevant to our mandate. Nonetheless, I should emphasize that, irrespective of our mandate under Security Council resolutions, we have the continuing responsibility under Iraq’s NPT safeguards agreement with the Agency to ensure that, in accordance with that agreement, Iraq does not have any proscribed nuclear material or activities, and that all nuclear activities in Iraq are for peaceful purposes. We will continue, obviously, to fulfil that responsibility."