Iran Reaffirms Intention to Sign Additional Protocol

Iran said yesterday that it is still committed to signing the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement, but Iranian officials gave no indication of when they would formally ink the deal (see GSN, Dec. 5).

Some Western officials have accused Iran of stalling on its promise to sign the protocol — that would permit more intrusive international monitoring of Iranian nuclear activities — but International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said last week that he expects Iran to sign the accord “shortly.”

“From our point of view, it’s definite. We have announced to the IAEA that we have agreed to sign,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza. “The matter is now under study at the Cabinet. After the initial signature and finalization of the issue, it will be handed over to the parliament,” he added (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 7).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.