US and Iran finesse issue of IAEA's nuclear probes, for now | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
US and Iran finesse issue of IAEA's nuclear probes, for now

World+Biz

Reuters
29 August, 2022, 10:45 am
Last modified: 29 August, 2022, 10:52 am

Related News

  • 35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'reach general consensus on some issues' on second day of talks; final round today
  • Israel will strike Iran again if threatened, defence minister says
  • US remains Bangladesh’s top export destination
  • Trump's tariffs: What's in effect and what could be in store?
  • Tariffs drive US clothing imports from China to 22-year low in May

US and Iran finesse issue of IAEA's nuclear probes, for now

Reuters
29 August, 2022, 10:45 am
Last modified: 29 August, 2022, 10:52 am
Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The United States and Iran have found a way to address the UN nuclear watchdog's investigations of Tehran's atomic program that allows both to claim victory for now but delays a final resolution, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Tehran has pushed Washington to commit to close probes by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites before it will fully implement a proposed deal to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear pact.

The United States and its partners, however, reject that stance, arguing the investigations can only conclude when Iran has given satisfactory answers to the Vienna-based agency.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

As a result, Iran has said it will not carry out the deal unless the probes have been closed, postponing the fundamental question of whether the IAEA will close them and whether Iran might go ahead with the wider deal if not, the sources said.

Resolution of the so-called "safeguards" investigations is critical to the UN agency, which seeks to ensure parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are not secretly diverting nuclear material which they could use to make a weapon.

While a senior US official said last week that Iran had "basically dropped" some of the main obstacles to reviving the 2015 deal, including on the IAEA, the issue seems to have been deferred. 

"Iran originally had wanted a commitment that the IAEA would complete the agency's safeguards investigations by a date certain," said a US official on condition of anonymity, saying the United States and its partners refused this.

"Iran came back and stated that if the safeguards issues were not resolved by Re-Implementation Day, they would reserve the right not to take the steps to curb their nuclear program slated to occur on that date," said the US official.

The draft on reviving the 2015 agreement lays out steps culminating in Re-Implementation Day - a nod to the original deal's Implementation Day, when the last nuclear and sanctions-related measures fell into place, diplomats have said.

This week, Iran stuck to its guns.

"The IAEA probes should be closed before the Re-Implementation Day" if the 2015 deal is revived, Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday.

The US official said that if Tehran had not cooperated with the IAEA by that time, Iranian leaders would face a choice: "either delay or even forgo the expected sanctions relief, or proceed with implementing the deal even as the investigations into the open cases persist."

Probes and political pressure

The IAEA issue threatens to prevent a revival of the 2015 pact, abandoned by then-US President Donald Trump in 2018, under which Iran had curbed its nuclear program in return for relief from US, EU and UN sanctions.

After reneging on the deal, Trump reimposed US sanctions on Iran, leading Tehran to resume previously banned nuclear activities and reviving US, European and Israeli fears that Iran may seek an atomic bomb. Iran denies any such ambition.

Iran has sought to use the talks over reviving the 2015 deal to get the IAEA to close the investigations.

The probes mainly relate to apparently old sites dating to before or around 2003, when US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran halted a coordinated nuclear arms program.

Iran denies ever having such a program, but information including material that Israel says it seized from an Iranian "archive" of past work raises questions about the matter.

Given the Western refusal to commit to closing the probes by a specific date, and Iran's insistence it won't fully carry out the deal if they remain active, there appear to be at least four possible outcomes.

Under the first, Iran would satisfy the IAEA's concerns in a timely manner and the 2015 deal is resurrected.

Under the second, Tehran would fail to satisfy the IAEA, would refuse to take the nuclear steps to consummate the deal, and Washington would refuse to provide sanctions relief envisaged in the proposed deal's final phase.

However, nuclear limitations, and sanctions relief, to be provided in earlier phases of the proposed deal would happen.

"As I understand it, the Iranians will freeze high grade enrichment, 20%, 60%, the US will ease some sanctions, a very few, not highly significant," said a source familiar with the matter.

There is, however, the possibility the nuclear agreement's timelines could be extended, giving Iran more time to satisfy the IAEA if it chose and delaying the deal's completion, a US and an Iranian official said.

The US official said there is a provision in the draft text, unrelated to the IAEA issue, that lets Iran or the United States request a delay to Re-implementation Day.

Under a third scenario, Tehran might carry out the deal even if the IAEA probes stay open, a policy reversal that could be difficult for Iranian leaders to swallow or sell at home.

A fourth possibility might be that political pressure could force the IAEA to close the probes even if it is not satisfied with Iran's answers, though US officials say they will not strong-arm the agency.

Eurasia Group analyst Henry Rome said that if a deal were agreed it was more likely than not to be implemented.

"But there would be a lot more uncertainty now than there was back in 2015," he said.
 

Top News

US / Iran / nuclear actions

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Abul Barkat at Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court on 11 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Economist Abul Barkat sent to jail in Tk297cr embezzlement case
  • Kunming rising: China’s emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
    Kunming rising: China’s emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients
  • BNP senior leader Salahuddin Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    No scope for electoral alliance with Jamaat, door not closed for NCP: BNP's Salahuddin

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'agree on most issues' as first day of talks ends

Related News

  • 35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'reach general consensus on some issues' on second day of talks; final round today
  • Israel will strike Iran again if threatened, defence minister says
  • US remains Bangladesh’s top export destination
  • Trump's tariffs: What's in effect and what could be in store?
  • Tariffs drive US clothing imports from China to 22-year low in May

Features

Kunming rising: China’s emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

Kunming rising: China’s emerging healthcare hub draws Bangladeshi patients

22m | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

22h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

12m | TBS World
Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

Shocking science: why birds stay safe on electricity lines

1h | TBS Stories
Threat of 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods

Threat of 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods

2h | TBS World
Israel ready to strike back if Iran threatens: Katz

Israel ready to strike back if Iran threatens: Katz

3h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net