World | Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:45am EDT
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IAEA warns money running out to monitor Iran nuclear deal
VIENNA | By Shadia Nasralla
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it will run out of money next month to monitor implementation of nuclear accords with Tehran and asked countries to increase funding the costs of its Iran work, which will rise to $10 million a year.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said he had asked member states for contributions to ensure its work can go ahead.
Under the agreement reached between Tehran and six world powers on July 14, sanctions relief for Iran hinges on IAEA reports on its past and present nuclear program.
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So far, costs for the IAEA's activities on Iran have been met through extra-budgetary contributions from member states.
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But Amano said the 800,000 euros ($924,000) per month the agency receives to verify current Iran nuclear agreements would be exhausted by the end of next month.
The IAEA will need an additional 160,000 euros per month in the run-up to the implementation of the agreement which could happen in the first half of next year. Once it is implemented, the agency will need an annual 9.2 million euros ($10.6 million) to ensure verification of the deal.
Following Amano's request, the United States - the agency's biggest financial contributor - said it was committed to ensuring it had enough money for its Iran operations.
The IAEA has come under pressure, particularly from U.S. Republicans, for not disclosing a roadmap agreement with Iran which it signed alongside the July deal to resolve concerns Tehran's nuclear program might have had military dimensions, which Tehran denies.
Reza Najafi, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, asked whether Tehran had submitted new information about its nuclear past to the agency, told reporters on Tuesday that he was bound not to disclose any of Tehran's arrangements under the roadmap.
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He also declined to explain whether IAEA inspectors would be allowed to inspect Iran's Parchin military site, where some states accuse the Islamic Republic of having conducted nuclear-bomb related experiments.
"The IAEA should... exercise utmost vigilance to ensure full protection of all confidential information coming to its knowledge. We will not accept any kind of leakage of classified information by anyone," Najafi said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/25/us-iran-nuclear-iaea-idUSKCN0QU0W120150825
