Dec 16, 2015

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear watchdog organization, concluded its 12-year investigation into Iran’s possible nuclear weapons research, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that international sanctions against Iran will be removed by January.

The IAEA concluded that Iran conducted weapons research until 2003 and even to a lesser extent until 2009, but found no evidence that any research had been conducted since 2009. As part of the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, Iran cooperated with the IAEA so that a clear report would facilitate the removal of sanctions enacted by the European Union, the United States and the United Nations.

In a televised speech Dec. 16, Rouhani called the IAEA resolution “one of the successful steps of Iran on the political and international scene.” Rouhani said that for nearly 14 years Iran has been accused of having a secret nuclear weapons program, which was the justification for UN sanctions.

Rouhani added that closing the possible military dimensions (PMD) investigation of their nuclear program was not only a legal and technical issue, but it was an ethical, political and moral victory. He added that the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and Iran’s atomic agency played a significant role in resolving the PMD case against Iran.

He said, “God willing, in the month of Dey [Dec. 22-Jan. 20], the sanctions will be removed and our administration will have fulfilled one of its campaign promises and the chains of sanctions will be removed from the feet of Iran’s economy and the path to larger cooperation with the world will be more open.” Rouhani invited Iranians inside and outside of the country to participate in the country’s economic opening.