WASHINGTON � Iran has removed the core of its Arak plutonium reactor and filled it with cement, taking one of the final steps that � pending verification by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors � will make way for implementation day of the landmark Iran nuclear deal over the weekend, Iranian officials said.

�The core vessel of the Arak reactor has been removed,� IAEA spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Jan. 14.

IAEA �inspectors will be in Arak this evening, and they will verify Iran�s measures and their report will be sent to the IAEA,� Kamalvandi said. �We are in the final phases, and the job will be done today or tomorrow and we will enter into an important era.�

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a Jan. 12 phone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry, �reported to me that the calandria of the plutonium nuclear reactor is now out,� Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University on Jan. 13. �And in the next hours it will be filled with concrete and destroyed. All of their enriched material has been put on a ship and taken out and gone to Russia for processing.�

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This article was written by�Laura Rozen for Al-Monitor on Jan. 14, 2016. Laura Rozen reports on foreign policy from Washington, DC, for Al-Monitor's Back Channel. She has written for Yahoo! News, Politico and Foreign Policy.