Statement by Denmark on NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran

IAEA Board of Governors
Vienna, 16 – 18 November 2022

Below you can read the statement by Denmark on NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran

Denmark aligns itself with the EU statement delivered under this agenda item. 

Once again, the Report before us is very clear. The IAEA is not in a position to confirm the correctness and completeness of Iran’s CSA declarations, because Iran has continued not to provide technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles at several undeclared locations. The current location of the nuclear material and equipment involved remains unknown. 

It is a core element of the international safeguards system that states must cooperate with the IAEA. In the absence of sufficient cooperation in line with the legal obligations states have entered into, the Agency is unable to implement its safeguards mandate and draw the relevant conclusions. For this reason, lack of proper cooperation is a concern to all Member States, and the Board cannot ignore such a challenge to the system that we all rely on.

The continued lack of substantive Iranian engagement to solve issues stemming from its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement is therefore particularly concerning. We commend the Director General and the Safeguards Department for their dedicated and tireless work over several years to resolve outstanding questions in line with standard safeguards practise, and we fully support them in fulfilling their safeguards mandate. Despite these efforts, the IAEA cannot progress without Iranian engagement. We regret therefore that Iran did not take the opportunity provided by discussions held in September and November to effectively clarify and resolve outstanding issues. 

While we regret that it has become necessary for the Board to take action, yet again, to ensure that Iran meets its legal obligations, we fully support the draft resolution submitted to this meeting. We strongly hope that it will be implemented, leading to significant progress before the Board’s meeting in March 2023, and preferably well before then.

Finally, we reiterate that failure to implement the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements is contrary to Iran’s legal obligations. 

Thank you Chair