Saudi Arabia on Wednesday welcomed the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors' resolution stressing that Iran must comply with its obligations under the safeguards agreement, and the necessity to cooperate with the agency to resolve all outstanding nuclear issues. Saudi Arabia called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and resolve outstanding issues without delay, hoping that member states in the board of governors will fully support the agency and its director general. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging Iran to cooperate fully with the UN nuclear inspectors and resolve the long outstanding safeguards issues. During its meeting on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 35-member Board voted to pass the resolution, drafted by the United States and three European countries, namely France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The resolution, the first of its kind in two years, was approved by 30 Board members while Russia and China voted against it. The remaining three members — India, Pakistan and Libya — abstained. The resolution stressed that without Iran producing credible and technically verifiable explanations for the existence of nuclear materials at three undeclared sites, the UN nuclear inspectors would not be able to complete their mission in the Islamic Republic under the NPT Safeguards Agreement. It renewed support for the efforts of the UN nuclear watchdog to verify the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program although concerns remain on safeguards issues relating to the three nuclear sites. The resolution urged Iran to provide the IAEA Secretariat with all necessary information and credible documents with a view to enabling the Board of Governors to settle the outstanding issues once and for all. Finally, it called on IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to continue updating the Board on the issue until a final settlement is reached. — SG with inputs from agencies.
