MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has welcomed the political framework agreement reached by the P5+1 negotiators and Iran on Thursday in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
"The IAEA welcomes the announcement by E3+3 [P5+1] and Iran on the key parameters for a joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. With the endorsement of the IAEA's Board of Governors, the Agency will be ready to fulfill its role in verifying the implementation of nuclear related measures, once the agreement is finalized," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a statement issued on Thursday.
As part of the deal, Iran will not build new enrichment facilities or heavy water reactors for 15 years, and will also limit its stockpile of enriched uranium while abiding by enhanced transparency procedures. The number of centrifuges operating in Iran will be cut by more than two-thirds in ten years.
If the IAEA verifies that Iran is taking key steps laid out in the agreement, the United States and the European Union will gradually lift all nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Iran.
The UN Security Council will only partially lift its sanctions, with the existing restrictions on conventional arms and ballistic missiles as well as core UN provisions dealing with the transfer of sensitive technologies and activities to remain in place.
The lifted sanctions could be re-imposed if Iran fails to abide by the Lausanne agreements.
