International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.

It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The IAEA is an autonomous international organization within the United Nations system. It partners with more than a dozen UN organizations, thereby helping extend the reach of its services.
IAEA reports annually to the UN General Assembly.
Created in 1957, the IAEA Secretariat is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
Total Membership: 171 (including India).

The main functions of the IAEA are to:
- encourage and assist research, development and practical application of atomic energy for peaceful uses throughout the world;
- establish and administer safeguards designed to ensure that such activity assisted by the Agency is not used to further any military purpose;
- apply safeguards to relevant activities at the request of Member States;
- apply, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international treaties, mandatory comprehensive safeguards in non-nuclear weapon States (NNWS) Parties to such treaties.

Iran has said that it will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the International Atomic Energy Agency as a monitoring agreement with the agency has expired.
The announcement could further complicate talks between Iran and six major powers on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal. Three years ago then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran; Iran reacted by violating many of the deal’s restrictions on its nuclear programme.
The IAEA and Tehran struck the three-month monitoring agreement in February to cushion the blow of Iran reducing its cooperation with the agency, and it allowed monitoring of some activities that would otherwise have been axed to continue.
Under that agreement, which on May 24 was extended by a month, data continues to be collected in a black-box-type arrangement, with the IAEA only able to access it at a later date.
Iran said the country’s Supreme National Security Council would decide whether to renew the monitoring agreement only after it expires.

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