Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have announced a limited deal on inspections of nuclear sites.
The arrangements do not renew the inspections agreement which expired in late June. However, they avert a headline confrontation which could have halted the Vienna talks over renewal of the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia).
The deal was announced on Sunday after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi’s discussions in Tehran with the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami. It grants IAEA staff access to facilities to replace memory cards in monitoring equipment, allowing continued surveillance of the sites.
However, there was no statement about Iran’s withholding of video surveillance tapes and bar on “snap” inspections. Tehran imposed the restrictions early this year as, breaking provisions of the 2015 nuclear deal, it resumed enrichment of 20% uranium and later produced its first 60% fuel.
See also IAEA — Iran Has “Seriously Undermined” Nuclear Inspections
Grossi said on his return to Vienna on Sunday night:
This is not a permanent solution, this cannot be a permanent solution. This has always been seen, for me at least, as a stopgap, as a measure to allow time for diplomacy.
We managed to rectify the most urgent issue: the imminent loss of knowledge we were confronted with until yesterday. Now we have a solution.
A Temporary Stopgap?
The IAEA’s Board of Governors meets this week. Tehran’s officials had warned that if an “anti-Iran resolution” was adopted, then the Islamic Republic might not return to the Vienna talks.
The recently-installed Raisi Government had already said that it needs “two to three months” before returning to the table.
The Russian Ambassador to the IAEA tweeted on Friday — a day after US envoy Rob Malley visited Moscow:
There should be no illusion. If a draft resolution on #Iran is tabled in the #IAEA Board of Governors Russia will vote against. As I tweeted yesterday there is no need for a resolution which would be not only senseless but extremely detrimental. Let’s better count on diplomacy. https://t.co/XaSzqI9HgC
— Mikhail Ulyanov (@Amb_Ulyanov) September 10, 2021
The immediate dispute concerned monitoring of areas of Iran’s nuclear program, under the 2015 agreement, beyond those supervised under Tehran’s fundamental legal obligations to the IAEA. Those areas included production of parts for uranium centrifuges.
A senior Iranian official told Amwaj Media that the IAEA’s access to the areas, changing the memory cards in cameras, would be “after the Board of Governors meeting”.
He also said the replaced memory cards would not be given to the IAEA, but would be kept under seal on Iranian soil.
But the European Union’s coordinator of the Vienna talks focused on the resumption of the negotiations:
This is a positive step towards ensuring continuity of knowledge on Iran’s nuclear programme. Gives space for diplomacy. I appreciate the efforts. EU’s aim remains full #JCPOA implementation by all. For that it’s crucial we resume #ViennaTalks as soon as possible. https://t.co/0dB9bhtwqy
— Enrique Mora (@enriquemora_) September 12, 2021
“So the Supreme Leader quietly lifted the ban on vaccines developed in the US?”
All vaccines made in the US, UK and France are banned within Iran. Copies made in other approved countries by partner companies – that are deemed safe and effective – can be imported. Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines (which supply most vaccines around the world) have not been authorised for use in Iran.
Iran does not plan to import any J&J vaccines despite authorisation. Those vaccines entering the country are from Russia, South Korea, Japan and China.
Except that the Supreme Leader’s January ban was not on vaccines *made” in the US and UK — It was on any vaccine *developed* in the US and UK.
The Revolutionary Guards’ claim that US and UK vaccines were “biological warfare” was about any US or UK vaccine, wherever it was manufactured.
Glad we cleared that up.
Iran Authorizes Sputnik Light, Johnson & Johnson Vaccines: https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2021/09/16/2572741/iran-authorizes-sputnik-light-johnson-johnson-vaccines
“Iran has already granted emergency use authorization to Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, Covaxin made by India’s Bharat Biotech, Oxford/AstraZeneca developed by Russia’s R-Pharm Group, and the AstraZeneca-SKBio made in South Korea.”
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have not been approved for general use although there is a black market for them.
Interesting. Do you happen to know from which country the Johnson & Johnson vaccine originates?
Yes, I do. And did you know it is an adeno-viral vector vaccine (like Astrazeneca) which is produced in India and South Africa by partner companies? https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/indias-biological-e-make-jj-vaccine-alongside-own-shot-managing-director-says-2021-05-18/
So the Supreme Leader quietly lifted the ban on vaccines developed in the US?
Got it.
“You really should keep an eye on your disinformation, particularly when even the Iranian Foreign Ministry contradicts you.”
The Foreign Ministry doesn’t dictate health policy. There are no plans to import the experimental mRNA vaccines -especially now that their side effects are known. Iran has announced it is importing 60 million doses of Chinese adenoviral vector vaccine: https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/06/23/2571431
There is not a ban in place anymore, but health officials are choosing to buy Russian, Chinese and Indian vaccines instead (as well as domestic ones).
Varharan,
Nice try — no cigar.
The Tasnim article is just a statement of intention to buy Chinese doses — in other words, a PR statement with no bearing on which vaccines have been used to this point.
And as the Foreign Ministry statement made clear, the Supreme Leader’s ban on Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (and indeed AstraZeneca, which you admit is being used) has been quietly withdrawn.
S.
The Astrazeneca vaccine has been imported since March. It is also made in India and so officials had the right to import it: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/indian-made-astrazeneca-vaccine-not-recognised-in-eu/
Iran has not purchased a single Pfizer or Moderna jab yet. It is trying to import and license-produce Sputnik in large numbers
It wasn’t just Khamenei who expressed skepticism with US vaccines: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20210109-iran-bans-import-of-uk-and-us-covid-19-vaccines-saying-they-re-completely-untrustworthy
“Our people will not be a testing device for vaccine manufacturing companies,” (Rouhani) added. “We shall purchase safe foreign vaccines.”
Nice try. Khamenei’s ban was on US and UK vaccines, whether or not they were manufactured in US/UK or abroad.
And, yes, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been administered in Iran as Khamenei stepped back from the ban (quietly) — not in same levels as Chinese versions, but in notable amounts.
You omitted that Rouhani was forced into his statement after the Supreme Leader’s January ban, preventing the Government from imports needed to contain the virus — and thus leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Iranians.
Iran to run third phase clinical trial of the new “Fakhra” vaccine for the SarsCov2 virus: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2021/09/13/666420/Iran-launches-3rd-stage-clinical-trial-Fakhra-vaccine
The vaccine – an inactivated form of the virus – was developed by the Defense Ministry. Other Iranian vaccines have been developed or are in development.
Iran has so far approved the use of 5 vaccines: https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/country/iran-islamic-republic-of/
Iran still has a ban in place for experimental and unproven mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna).
Iran does not have a “ban in place” for Pfizer and Moderna. The vaccines are included in the deliveries made by the international program Covax to Tehran.
No. They are not authorised. As the link indicates, only the Oxford-Astra Zeneca is being imported from the West (although it is made in India).
Iranian scientists are looking into mRNA vaccines, but they are expected to take 2 years of research because of their experimental nature.
Varharan,
You really should keep an eye on your disinformation, particularly when even the Iranian Foreign Ministry contradicts you.
“Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that the country is facing no red lines in importing coronavirus vaccines, even Pfizer and Moderna.”
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/465002/No-red-lines-in-importing-COVID-vaccines-even-Pfizer-and-Moderna
S.