Remarks by Ambassador Joonkook Hwang, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of June, at the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

June 24, 2024

The representative of the Republic of Korea, Council President for June, speaking in his national capacity, said that IAEA’s verification and monitoring activities are “crucial for ensuring the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme”.

Expressing concern about escalation of Iran’s nuclear activities beyond the limits of the Plan of Action, he added: “It is difficult to find a credible civilian justification for such a large amount of highly enriched uranium.”  Noting with concern that the Agency has lost important knowledge about Iran’s nuclear programme due to that country’s suspension of the Plan’s commitments, he called on Tehran to “reverse its decision” to withdraw the designations for several Agency inspectors.

“We call on Iran to fully and immediately cooperate with the IAEA in the spirit of the 4 March Joint Statement and abide by its commitments under the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action],” he said.  Likewise, all parties to the Plan should to find a way back to mutual compliance at the earliest date.