IAEA Says It's Running Out of Money to Monitor Iran

The world’s nuclear watch dog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says it is strapped for cash and needs at least $10 million to carry out the critical monitoring required of them in the Iranian nuclear deal.

“The Agency has immediate funding needs related to the continuing costs of implementing monitoring and verification under the existing Joint Plan of Action,” Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA, said in remarks presented to the agency’s Board of Directors this week.

“These total $800,000 euros per month. The extra-budgetary contributions which we have previously received for this purpose will be exhausted by the end of September,” Amano said.

In response to the IAEA’s financial woes, the United States’ mission in Vienna reportedly said on Tuesday that it would make sure the agency has enough money to report on Iran’s past, present, and future nuclear programs.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the U.S. mission in Vienna said in a statement, “The United States is committed to working with all [IAEA] member states to ensure the agency has the resources it needs to verify Iran’s nuclear-related commitments under the [July 14 agreement].”

It is no secret that the IAEA is under intense budgetary pressures. This year, they announced that they were cutting back on office supplies and going “paperless” in an attempt to reduce spending.

Amano elaborated that, in addition to the necessary $10 million annually, the IAEA will require more than 160,000 euros per month “between the Adoption Day and Implementation Day of the JCPOA, as they carry out the preparatory work necessary for the verification and monitoring process.”

“There is now a historic opportunity to resolve the Iran nuclear issue. I hope that full use will be made of this opportunity,” Amando concluded.

Congress will vote on September 17 to approve or reject the deal, which was agreed upon in July by the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Germany–known jointly as the P5+1.

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