The IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The UN atomic energy agency’s latest report on Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal it reached with six world powers last year “borders on deception by omission,” a Washington, DC-based think tank said in an analysis published this week.

“The IAEA reporting continues to lack critical technical details about implementation of the agreement,” the Institute for Science and International Security said in a statement authored by David Albright — a former IAEA official — and Andrea Stricker.

Furthermore, the analysis said, the “IAEA’s sparse and overly generalized reporting” is “contradicted by independent reporting pointing to problems in the implementation of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]…This continued lack of information in the IAEA reports combined with the ongoing secrecy surrounding the decision-making of the Joint Commission (the body created to monitor implementation of the JCPOA) is a serious shortcoming in the implementation of the JCPOA and raises legitimate questions about the adequacy of Iran’s compliance.”

Albright and Stricker went on to say, “We continue to call for the IAEA to include much more information than it is currently providing and for the Joint Commission to make public its decisions, particularly those that change the nature of the agreement’s provisions. This information is needed to allow for independent assessment of Iran’s adherence to the JCPOA. We will continue seeking out and making available information on JCPOA implementation due to this ongoing lack of transparency.”

Last week, as reported by The Algemeiner, the US State Department declined to acknowledge that Iran had violated the JCPOA, despite an IAEA finding that the Islamic Republic had — for the second time — stockpiled more heavy water than permitted under the terms of the deal.

In September, a report published by the Institute for Science and International Security said that the US and other P5+1 nations had agreed “in secret” to allow Iran to evade certain restrictions in the JCPOA to allow it to meet a January 2016 deadline for international sanctions relief.

Meanwhile, Iran announced plans on Wednesday to bolster cooperation with other countries “in the field of civilian nuclear technology,” the Islamic Republic’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported.

“The contract to redesign Arak (heavy water) reactor with the Chinese has been finalized but talks still continue on the price,” Behrouz Kamalvandi — a spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran — was quoted as saying.

Kalmavandi also stated that a “contract in the nuclear field” would be signed during an upcoming visit by Iranian officials to the Czech Republic, calling it “cooperation [that] can be fruitful to [sic] us,” he said.

Iran has always claimed its entire nuclear program was designed for “civilian purposes,” an assertion rejected by the West.