Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as San Marino align themselves with this statement.

The European Union would like to thank the Director General for his 27 May report on verification and monitoring in Iran in light of UN Security Council resolution 2231 and DDG Aparo for the technical briefing. We commend the Director General and the Secretariat for their professional, independent and impartial work.

It is a key security priority for the EU to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. The EU remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.  We call on all countries to support the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015). We regret that Iran has not made the necessary decisions to return to its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA, to which the EU remains committed. The risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the region is increasing as a result of Iran’s escalating nuclear trajectory.   

The EU remains deeply concerned by the continued alarming expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran is gravely departing from its JCPOA commitments and irreversibly gaining knowledge. The EU notes with particular concern Iran’s continued accumulation of high enriched uranium and expansion of nuclear enrichment infrastructure. The DG’s report documents a substantial rise of the nuclear stockpile, including a particularly sharp rise of material at 60%. Such actions carry very significant proliferation-related risks and raise grave concerns about Iran’s intentions, since they have no credible civilian justification.

Iran has yet to reverse its September 2023 decision to withdraw the designations for any of the experienced Agency inspectors previously designated for Iran. We expect Iran to do so without delay. This is essential to fully allow the Agency to conduct its verification activities in Iran effectively.

Chair,

Iran has stopped the implementation of its nuclear related commitments under the JCPOA. For more than three years, the Agency has been unable to carry out several key JCPOA-related verification and monitoring activities. Iran’s subsequent decision to have all of the Agency’s JCPOA-related surveillance and monitoring equipment removed, has further exacerbated the situation. The Agency has lost continuity of knowledge on the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium concentrate. This has detrimental implications for the Agency’s ability to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme. We reiterate our grave concerns in this regard.

In light of these multiple and grave concerns, we strongly urge Iran to reverse its alarming nuclear trajectory and return to its nuclear non-proliferation commitments without further delay. The EU expects Iran to complete the installation of surveillance and monitoring equipment and grant the Agency unhindered access to their data. We also urge Iran to return to the provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol, to ratify it, and to resume implementation of all JCPOA-related monitoring and verification measures. This, together with full implementation of the legally binding CSA and modified Code 3.1, is essential to help building international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.

To conclude, timely and full cooperation with the IAEA remains absolutely crucial. The EU wholly supports the IAEA's efforts to continue implementing its long-term mission of continued verification and monitoring in Iran. The EU also calls on Iran to implement the March 2023 Joint Statement.

With this, we take note of the Director General's report and request that it be made public.

Thank you, Chair.

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.