Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Before taking your questions, I wish to highlight a few points.
First, Iran.
There is much discussion about the future of the JCPOA.
It is not the role of the Agency to comment or speculate on the positions of parties to the agreement.
We are concentrating on discharging our responsibility, which is to verify and monitor Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.
As I have said many times, I believe the JCPOA represents a significant gain for verification. The IAEA now has the world’s most robust verification regime in place in Iran. We have had access to all the locations that we needed to visit.
Our inspection work has doubled since 2013. IAEA inspectors now spend 3,000 calendar days per year on the ground in Iran. We have installed some 2,000 tamper-proof seals on nuclear material and equipment.
We have carried out more than 60 complementary accesses and visited more than 190 buildings since JCPOA Implementation Day.
We collect and analyse hundreds of thousands of images captured daily by our sophisticated surveillance cameras in Iran – about half of the total number of such images that we collect throughout the world.
We collect over one million pieces of open source information each month.
All of our activities are supported by state-of-the-art technology, including data collecting and processing systems. Our current verification capability is much stronger than it has ever been.
As of today, I can state that Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments. It is essential that Iran continues to do so. If the JCPOA were to fail, it would be a great loss for nuclear verification and for multilateralism.
Second, the most important event in the IAEA calendar this year is our Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, which will take place in Vienna from November 28 to 30.
The conference will bring together ministers, technical experts and many others to consider how countries can make optimal use of nuclear science and technology in achieving their development goals.
The IAEA contributes directly to the achievement of nine of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Nuclear science and technology help countries to produce more food, generate more electricity, treat diseases such as cancer, manage their water supplies, and respond to climate change – and much more.
These will be among the issues discussed at this important conference starting on November 28 in Vienna.
Thank you.