The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, told the agency's governing board Tuesday that it would need more than $10 million per year to monitor nuclear activity in Iran.
The IAEA is charged with monitoring the international accord that was struck with six nations, including the United States, in July. In Vienna on Tuesday, Director General Yukiya Amano said that funds the IAEA needs to do its job are quickly running out and that it would take 9.2 million euros or $10.6 million a year to monitor Iran's activities.
Amano said the accord represented an “historic opportunity to resolve the Iran nuclear issue.”
The U.S. Congress is set to vote on the accord in September. Amano's comments, meanwhile, were made at a special meeting of the IAEA's Board of Governors, who gathered to deliberate UN Security Council resolution 2231, with which the UN formally requested the IAEA consider taking on the task of monitoring Iran's nuclear materials and activity.
Documents submitted to the 35-member Board of Governors say 6.2 million euros a year will be required to verify Iran's nuclear activities, while 3 million euros would go to verify Iran's compliance with the “Additional Protocol” out lined in the deal that was struck July 14.
The accord allows for ongoing monitoring of uranium processing centrifuges and storage facilities. Inspectors are also allowed to be allowed access to Iran's uranium mines and mills.