Consolidated Progress Report to Security Council on IAEA Verification Activities in Iraq Pursuant to Resolution 687 and Other Related Resolutions

In a letter dated 10 October 2003 to UN Security Council President John Negroponte, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei submitted the required consolidated progress report on IAEA verification activities in Iraq. The text follows:

In accordance with paragraph 16 of resolution 1051 (1996), the Director General of the IAEA is requested to submit consolidated progress reports every six months to the Security Council, commencing 11 April 1996, on the Agency's verification activities in Iraq pursuant to paragraphs 12 and 13 of resolution 687 (1991) and other related resolutions.

Since 17 March 2003, the Agency has not been in a position to implement its mandate in Iraq under United Nations Security Council resolution 687 (1991) and related resolutions.

Following extensive media reports of looting of nuclear and radioactive material at the Tuwaitha complex in Iraq, the Director General requested, and the Coalition Provisional Authority agreed, that the IAEA would conduct an inspection, in accordance with the IAEA's safeguards agreement with Iraq, in order to verify the nuclear material subject to safeguards stored at the Location C Nuclear Material Storage Facility near the Tuwaitha complex south of Baghdad. The inspection mission took place from 7 to 23 June 2003 and its outcome was reported in document S/2003/711.

During the period covered by this report, the IAEA has continued to focus its activities on analyzing the wealth of additional information collected during inspections; consolidating its overall information assets and collecting and analyzing a variety of new information, including satellite imagery, to update its knowledge of the relevant facilities in Iraq; refining its plan for resumed verification activities, taking into account the many uncertainties of the present situation in Iraq; and evaluating lessons learnt through its past experience in Iraq. The IAEA has also been able, with the support of Member States, to continue with some of its investigations outside of Iraq, following up inspections and subsequent analysis. These post-inspections activities have revealed no evidence of the revival of a nuclear weapons programme in Iraq.

As a consequence of the current situation, the IAEA office responsible for the implementation of the IAEA's resolution related mandate (the Iraq Nuclear Verification Office) has started to modify its staffing, particularly in terms of personnel assignment and numbers. The IAEA, however, remains ready, subject to Security Council guidance, to resume its resolution-related verification activities with a view to completing its assessment of Iraq's nuclear activities during the period from 1998 to 2002. In the meantime, Member States are expected, under paragraph 10 of resolution 1441 (2002) and other relevant Security Council resolutions, to provide any information related to prohibited programmes or other aspects of the IAEA's mandate, including on Iraqi attempts since 1998 to acquire prohibited items, to enable the Agency to fulfill its responsibilities under those resolutions and under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The Agency therefore expects that any findings with regard to nuclear activities made by the Iraq Survey Group will be shared with the Agency. The IAEA continues to carry out its work in connection with the notifications expected to be provided to it by States pursuant to Security Council resolutions which require them to notify the IAEA of relevant exports to Iraq, taking into account the Export-Import Mechanism approved by the Council in resolution 1051 (1996).

I should be grateful if you would arrange for this letter to be distributed as a document of the Security Council.

Notes: The previous consolidated reports of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency were circulated as documents: S/1996/261 of 11 April 1996; S/1996/833 of 7 October 1996; S/1997/297 of 11 April 1997; S/1997/779 of 8 October 1997; S/1998/312 of 9 April 1998; S/1998/927 of 7 October 1998; S/1999/393 of 7 April 1999; S/1999/1035 of 7 October 1999; S/2000/300 of 11 April 2000; S/2000/983 of 11 October 2000; S/2001/337 of 6 April 2001; S/2001/945 of 5 October 2001; S/2002/367 of 16 April 2002; S/2002/1150 of 16 October 2002 and S/2003/422 of 14 April 2003. Document S/1998/694, dated 27 July 1998, contained the text of an interim status report provided in response to the Security Council presidential statement dated 14 May 1998 (S/PRST/1998/11). Document S/1999/127, dated 9 February 1999, contained the text of an interim status report provided in response to the note by the President of the Security Council dated 30 January 1999 (S/1999/100). Following the resumption of the IAEA's Security Council-mandated activities in Iraq in November 2002, the Council requested several updates. The IAEA provided these updates in the form of a report (Update Report for the Security Council pursuant to resolution 1441 (S/2003/95), dated 27 January 2003) and oral statements to the Security Council by the Director General (on 19 December 2002, 9 January 2003, 27 January 2003, 14 February 2003 and 7 March 2003). Finally, the Work Programme of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iraq pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1284 (1999) was provided to the Security Council on 20 March 2003 (S/2003/342).