IAEA chief: Agency running out of money to monitor Iran nuclear deal

The U.N. nuclear watchdog charged with overseeing Iran’s implementation of the nuclear deal said Tuesday it will run out of money next month and asked member countries to increase funding the costs of its monitoring, which will rise to $10 million a year.

Under the agreement reached between Tehran and six world powers on July 14, Iran will receive sanctions relief based on reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency on its past and present nuclear programs.

But IAEA chief Yukiya Amano on Tuesday said he had asked member states for more contributions to ensure its work can go ahead, Reuters reported.

So far, costs for IAEA’s monitoring activities on Iran have only been met through extra-budgetary contributions from member states.

But Mr. Amano said the 800,000 euros ($924,000) per month the agency receives will run out by the end of next month.

The IAEA will need at least another 160,000 euros ($182,564) per month leading up to the implementation of the agreement, which could happen sometime in the first half of next year.

Once the agreement is implemented, the agency said it will need an annual 9.2 million euros, or $10.6 million, to ensure verification of the deal, Reuters reported.

The U.S. — the biggest financial contributor to the agency — has said it is committed to ensuring the IAEA has enough money for its work in Iran.

But the agency has come under fire from Republicans in Congress for not disclosing a roadmap agreement with Iran, also signed in July, aimed at resolving concerns Tehran’s nuclear program might have had military dimensions, an idea Tehran denies.

Reza Najafi, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, asked whether Tehran had submitted new information about its nuclear past to the agency, told reporters on Tuesday that he was bound not to disclose any of Tehran’s arrangements under the roadmap, Reuters reported.

He also refused to explain whether IAEA officials would be allowed to inspect Iran’s Parchin military site, where some state believe the Islamic Republic had been conducting nuclear-bomb related experiments.

“The IAEA should … exercise utmost vigilance to ensure full protection of all confidential information coming to its knowledge. We will not accept any kind of leakage of classified information by anyone,” Mr. Najafi said, Reuters reported.