IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano giving a lecture at Qatar University yesterday. (Pic: Baher Amin/ The Peninsula)
Yukiya Amano, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has hailed Qatar's efforts in support of the IAEA and its mission for world peace. Qatar has been an IAEA member since the seventies and has been supporting the efforts of the Agency.
The Director-General during a lecture yesterday organised in collaboration between Qatar University (QU) and the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW), expressed satisfaction over Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments and termed the Iran nuclear deal “important from the point of view of verification and monitoring”.
“We have developed a counting system through which every material entering or leaving any nuclear facility of Iran is counted,” he said, adding that Iran’s centrifuges were under IAEA’s safeguard and Iran was reducing its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and heavy water as per Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.
He was answering question why different countries were being treated with different standards, Amano said those countries which were not NPT members did not fall in Agency’s ambit. The participants were asking questions regarding international community and bodies’ indifferent attitude towards Israel’s nuclear programme.
He said IAEA was monitoring Iran’s nuclear facility through cameras and frequent visits of inspectors. Amano said that he had presented three reports in February, May-June and September 2016 to the UN Security Council pointing out that Iran was implementing Comprehensive Safeguard Agreement.
To a suggestive question from the participants that the deal was sealed on political pressure and purposes, he replied: “IAEA’s ambit is technical in nature. We follow the rules. Our job is verification and monitoring while enforcement lies with the UN Security Council.” He added that IAEA was an impartial and non-political body.
He said Iran’s nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes and ‘no undeclared activity’ was being carried out there following Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He said that IAEA inspectors under Additional Protocol could visit any military or civil site.
To another question about possibility of Iran’s not honouring its commitment in future, he said he could not comment on hypothetical questions. He said responsibility of safety of country’s nuclear use in peaceful purposes was with Iran government and the IAEA’s role was to help them.
He highlighted that nuclear power could play significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy security and the availability of energy to meet increasing demands for development.
QU Chief Strategy and Development Officer Dr Darwish Al Emadi said: "This event comes as a result of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2015 between QU and NCPW to increase students' awareness on issues relating to international conventions on the prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction through organising training sessions and awareness workshops on relevant key issues."
