Context: Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began meeting over Iran’s refusal to allow access to two sites where nuclear activity may have occurred in the past.
Background

• The IAEA has expressed serious concerns in a report stating that Iran has been blocking inspections at the sites.
• The Board of Governors (one of the agency’s policy-making bodies) is expected to discuss the report during its meeting. If they pass a resolution critical of Iran, it would be the first of its kind since 2012.
• In 2012, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution urging Iran to cooperate with the Agency.
• The latest row over access comes, as a landmark deal between Iran and world powers in 2015 – Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), continues to unravel.

Key Points

• Although IAEA did not publicly name these sites, it held that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile has exceeded the agreed limit.
• According to the IAEA, Iran may have used the sites for processing and converting uranium ore in 2003.
• Iran denied the reports and hinted that queries were based on fabricated information from intelligence services.
• Iran has always denied that it has ever sought to develop a nuclear weapon, insisting that its programmes have been peaceful.
• It comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the USA, which pulled out of the 2015 international agreement.

About International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

• The IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear/atomic field. It is a UN agency.  It works with its member countries and many partners to promote peaceful uses of nuclear technologies.

IAEA History and Origins

• IAEA’s origins can be traced back to an address of the former US President Dwight Eisenhower to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1953. 
• The address was known as ‘Atoms for Peace’ and this was the organisation’s first name when it was formally established in 1957.
• Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the IAEA is a UN agency.
• The primary mandate of the organisation was and continues to be promoting safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.
• Currently, it has 171 members. The latest member is Saint Lucia which joined the IAEA in 2019.
• India became a member in 1957 itself.
• By ensuring the peaceful usage of nuclear technologies, the IAEA contributes to peace and security in the world and also towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• The current Director General of the organisation is Rafael Mariano Grossi.
• The IAEA, along with its former Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
• Although the IAEA is an independent international organisation, it reports annually to the UNGA.
• The IAEA has regional offices in Geneva, New York, Toronto and Tokyo; and research laboratories in Austria, Italy and Monaco.

IAEA Functions

• Promoting and assisting the research, development and practical applications of peaceful uses of nuclear technologies.
• Establishing and administering safety guards to ensure that such research/development, etc., by the IAEA is not used for military purposes.
• Applying, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international treaties, mandatory comprehensive safeguards in non-nuclear weapon states (NNWS) parties to such treaties.

The IAEA’s three chief areas of work are

• Safety and security
• Science and technology
• Safeguards and verification