UN nuclear watchdog’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear program hindered by US aid cuts — report

The UN nuclear watchdog’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear program has been disrupted after US President Donald Trump suspended two programs that provide aid to international nuclear inspectors, the New York Times reports, citing current and former US government nuclear experts.

The two programs were suspended by a sweeping executive order signed by Trump on the first day of his presidency that froze all US foreign aid programs for 90 days.

Citing unnamed sources, the Times says that the two programs are intended to support the International Atomic Energy Agency by recruiting and training atomic inspectors, and supplying it with the equipment and sophisticated lab devices needed for examining samples.

According to the Times, one of the programs has since been restored, although the other remains frozen.

While the IAEA declines to comment on the reported aid cuts, the US State Department, which is supposed to fund the programs, tells the Times that US national security is a top priority, and that “certain US assistance to programs that support International Atomic Energy Agency efforts and capabilities to inspect nuclear facilities worldwide, including in Iran, are continuing.”

The State Department does not say, however, whether any of the programs have been frozen or cut.