TEHRAN - Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalavandi says the mere detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of nuclear traces at sites in Iran does not mean that the country has undeclared nuclear material in its possession.
Kamalavandi said on Tuesday that remarks by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi a day earlier regarding potentially undeclared sites in Iran were unwarranted.
“Since the Agency (IAEA) has accounted for all of Iran’s declared nuclear material and there is no discrepancy, the mere detection of contamination in some sites cannot be taken to mean undeclared nuclear material,” Kamalvandi said.
Grossi had said in his Monday remarks, “Everything is interconnected” and the revival of the Iran deal “could facilitate us getting to broader conclusions” about Iran’ nuclear program.
“Frankly, the information gap is bigger and bigger and bigger,” he had said.
“We don’t want to sound dramatic, but the reality is that it’s going to be extremely difficult, and we will have to work very hard, and Iran will have to be very transparent.”
Kamalvandi said the comment about an inspection gap had no legal basis because “what is today not being carried out is related to” the Iran deal, the status of which is in limbo.
Kamalvandi said the restoration of any activity as per the deal hinged on the removal of the sanctions that were imposed on Iran after the U.S.’s withdrawal and the upholding of the deal by all sides.
The spokesman of Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres says the nuclear deal requires “flexibility” from the parties, saying Guterres continues to support the agreement clinched between Iran and the world’s powers.
Stéphane Dujarric made the remarks while addressing a press briefing on Monday amid protracted talks to restore the multilateral deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“For him, I think what’s important is that all of the parties to the JCPOA demonstrate some flexibility, which is going to be required if you’re going to reach a compromise on the last remaining issues and return to the full implementation of the plan and [UN] resolution 2231 (2015) without any further delay,” he said.
“Everybody has a different role to play,” Dujarric said, explaining that the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is involved in an aspect of the nuclear discussions and that IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi is “deeply involved on behalf, shall we say, of the United Nations’ system.”
He also said Guterres, for his part, has had discussions with a number of the JCPOA parties, including a recent phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian.
“He (Guterres) continues to have those discussions. He continues to be briefed from different parties,” Dujarric said.
The UN chief has always been a “strong proponent” of the deal and he would continue to support the deal, the spokesman said.
The UN chief’s expression of support for the nuclear talks comes ahead of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s scheduled trip to New York next week to address the UN General Assembly, where he is expected to reiterate Iran’s position on the deal and Washington’s illegal sanctions against Tehran.
The United States, under former President Donald Trump, abandoned the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions that the agreement had lifted.