Welcomes milestone, calls for full implementation of nuclear agreement

Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) submitted its final assessment of Iran’s past nuclear weapons-related work to the IAEA Board of Governors:

“Under the P5+1 nuclear agreement, Iran was required to cooperate with the IAEA’s investigation into its past nuclear weapons-related work—and it has done so. Completion of the IAEA report is an important milestone.

“The IAEA’s assessment was largely consistent with the view of the United States intelligence community, which is that Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. While Iran’s past work is disturbing, it only underscores the importance of and need for the nuclear agreement. 

“Now that the IAEA has completed its accounting of Iran’s past, it’s time to look to the future—it’s time to fully implement the nuclear agreement. Should Iran try to restart its nuclear weapons-related work, we will be in a far better place to detect and stop it with the agreement in place than without it.”

On December 2, the IAEA submitted to the IAEA Board of Directors its final assessment on Iran’s past nuclear weapons-related activities. The findings include:

• Iran conducted a coordinated “range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device” prior to the end of 2003 and some of the activities continued after 2003.
• Iran’s activities did not advance “beyond feasibility and scientific studies and the acquisition of certain relevant technical competencies and capabilities.”
• IAEA had no credible indications of weapons-related work continuing after 2009.

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