US Ambassador to the IAEA, Greg Schulte, was in London yesterday selling the US-India deal. I saw him talk at the IISS.
Given all the speculation that both the US and North Korea want the IAEA to have a minimal role in the verification process, I couldn’t resist asking the ambassador what role he thought the Agency should have. His answer surprised me.
He said that the US foresees a large role for the Agency both because it has relevant expertise and because the ultimate aim of the denuclearisation process is to get North Korea back into the NPT under IAEA safeguards. He wasn’t too specific about the exact division of labour between the US and the IAEA but he was much more positive about the Agency’s role than I had expected. He added that Chris Hill is in Vienna today discussing this issue with the DG and the safeguards people.
UPDATE: Andreas reports a contradictory picture from another discussion meeting at the IISS today. The plot thickens.