Typical Government Operation, IAEA Not Ready To Work In Iran

IAEA not ready to verify Iran nuclear deal

UN nuclear watchdog says no start date has been set yet; Assad hails Tehran's 'resilience'

The UN nuclear watchdog said Thursday it was not yet ready to verify Iran's compliance with the recent deal with world powers, as Tehran invited inspectors to the key Arak site.

"We need to study the agreement (struck in Geneva on Sunday) and we have to identify the ways in which the elements relevant to the IAEA be put into practice," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yuyika Amano said.

"It will take time because it is a quite complicated task and we would like to properly prepare and do the job properly.... I cannot tell when we will be ready," he told reporters.

He added that the Vienna-based body would need more money to carry out the enlarged inspection role foreseen in Iran's breakthrough deal with the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany -- the P5+1.

Under the terms of the deal, Iran will freeze certain activities for six months in exchange for minor relief from UN and Western sanctions that have hit its economy hard.

The temporary freeze is meant to make it more difficult for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and to build confidence while Tehran and the P5+1 hammer out a long-term accord.

This six-month period has not yet begun. The start-date will be negotiated in upcoming technical discussions that will include the IAEA. There are expectations that it will begin in January or possibly December.

Iran has pledged to limit uranium enrichment to low fissile purities. It will also lower the purity of its stockpile of medium-enriched material, which is relatively easy to convert to weapons-grade, or convert it to another form.

Iran also committed for six months "not to make further advances" at its Fordo and Natanz uranium enrichment sites and at the Arak heavy water reactor, which could provide Iran with weapons-grade plutonium once operating.

This will all have to be verified by the IAEA, meaning a considerably bigger strain on its financial and human resources.

Amidror fumes over deal

On Wednesday, Ya'akov Amidror, who recently stepped down as head of the Israeli National Security Council penned a scathing Op-Ed in the New York Times, claiming the interim agreement completely failed to address Iran's the nuclear threat.

Amidror, a close advisor of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed the achievements of the deal as negligible, claiming Iran got the better side of the bargain and was not forced to make meaningful concessions. He also argued that the Western military threat has been insufficiently utilized.

"The United States, at the direction of President Obama, has developed sophisticated weaponry specifically in order to deter Iran from going nuclear. But heaven forbid those should have to be used is the dominant feeling in Western capitals," he wrote.

"The West has surrendered its most effective diplomatic tool in exchange for baseless promises of goodwill. I pray its gamble pays off, for if it does not there will be only one tool left to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The Geneva agreement has made the world a more dangerous place. It did not have to be this way," he concluded.

High praise from Syria

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad praised Iran's "resilience" in talks with world powers.

"In a telephone call to President Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Assad reaffirmed the Iranian diplomatic success... leading to the deal with the P5+1 countries," , according to his Facebook page on Wednesday.

The posting on Assad's page said the deal was "the result of the Iranian people's resilience, who held onto their rights, and of the Iranian leadership's commitment to the principles of Iran's sovereignty."

Along with Russia and China, Iran is a key supporter of Assad, while the United States, Britain and France back the opposition and have led international calls for the embattled Syrian leader to step down.