Eurasia Press & News
Iran has threatened to reduce its cooperation with the IAEA if a resolution is written against it.
Iranian officials have continued to fire back at the United Nations nuclear watchdog over its findings as the negotiations to revive the Iranian nuclear deal remain at a standstill.
During a television interview, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh discussed the latest findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Khatibzadeh said that the IAEA’s board of governors is currently in a meeting that is expected to last several days. One of the points on the board’s agenda is to discuss the status of the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The JCPOA was signed in 2015. It reduced Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief from the United States. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump exited the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran increased its nuclear program and reduced its cooperation with the IAEA. Western countries that were part of the signing of the JCPOA (France, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom) are urging the IAEA to write a resolution condemning Iran for its lack of cooperation.
Khatibzadeh accused IAEA director Rafael Grossi of writing a “hurried, biased and inaccurate” report against Iran. He said that Iran and the IAEA still have a third round of meetings and added that Iran has already addressed the technical questions of the IAEA, stating that accusations in the IAEA are “footprints of the Zionist regime.” Grossi visited Israel recently and met with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Israel reportedly has nuclear weapons and has never signed the nonproliferation treaty, but its research activities are subject to IAEA verification — though nothing that would require the head of the agency to personally visit.
Khatibzadeh said that the IAEA board of governors would likely be discussing Iran on Tuesday or Wednesday. Iran will make its next decisions based on what’s discussed, he said, but he warned it would impact the nuclear negotiations. As part of a previous deal with the IAEA, Iran had agreed to continue to record work at its nuclear sites but keep the recordings until negotiators agreed to a nuclear deal. Iran is a member of the nonproliferation treaty but has also signed additional protocols and permits deeper inspections due to the JCPOA. Iran’s position is that if the JCPOA is not implemented, it should reduce cooperation with the IAEA — presumably just short of leaving the IAEA.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted that he spoke with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell about the nuclear talks in Vienna and how to move forward. He warned that the countries pushing for a resolution from the IAEA against Iran “will be responsible for all the consequences.” He added that Iran would welcome a “good, strong and lasting agreement,” and it can happen if the United States and the three European countries are “realistic.”
