CFI’s Parliamentary Chairman, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles MP underlined his concerns about an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme not providing sufficient clarity about the baselines and consequences of the regimes infringement of these, in Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Questions this week.
He additionally asked Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond MP what the extent of the IAEA’s inspection regime was.
Sir Eric Pickles said: “Given what the Foreign Secretary has said about the importance of the Iran discussions on the nuclear agreement, what is he doing to ensure greater clarity about the baselines, the extent of the inspection regime and the consequences of infringement? Given that the agreement will allow advanced centrifuge, the infringements might arrive a little earlier than anticipated”.
Foreign Secretary Hammond replied stating that the P5+1 would not sign a “bad deal” with Iran: “We are working intensively with our E3+3 (P5+1) partners and Iran to conclude the nuclear agreement that we set out in principle in Lausanne a couple of months ago. It is essential that, as part of the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency can verify all Iran’s nuclear-related commitments, including through access to all relevant locations. We are not going to do a bad deal with Iran. Proper access is central to the deal we agreed in Lausanne and has to be delivered”.
