Statements
11. September 2013
Statement by Ambassador Xolisa Mabhongo, Resident Representative/Governor of the Republic of South Africa, International Atomic Energy Agency, Board of Governors
AGENDA ITEM 6: NUCLEAR VERIFICATION (d) iMPLEMENTATION OF THE NPT SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT AND RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
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Chairperson,
South Africa associates itself with the statement delivered by the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. My delegation thanks the Director-General for the comprehensive report contained in GOV/2013/40. My delegation thanks the DDG for Safeguards and the Secretariat for the Technical Briefing held on 4 September 2013.
South Africa has read with interest the Director-General’s latest report and notes that the Agency continues to be able to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran, but also that it remains unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.
South Africa notes that the Secretariat and Iran have held ten rounds of talks aimed at concluding the structured approach document and that regrettably no agreement was reached on the structured approach.
My delegation is pleased to note that another round of talks will be held on 27 September 2013 in Vienna. South Africa continues to believe that that the structured approach remains an important tool that will allow the Agency to undertake the necessary activities in order to clarify any outstanding matters. In this regard, my delegation calls on Iran and the Secretariat to redouble their efforts to engage constructively and substantively with a view to conclude the discussion on the structured approach.
Chairperson
South Africa encourages Iran to cooperate with the Agency to clarify the outstanding issues in order to restore confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. As we have stated in previous statements, the UN Security Council resolutions are mandatory and in this regard South Africa reiterates its concern about the lack of progress with regard to Iran's compliance with the relevant IAEA and UN Security Council decisions.
I thank you.