TEHRAN -- The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Wednesday urged the UN nuclear agency to behave professionally on the West’s non-commitment to its obligations towards the Islamic Republic.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “has to maintain its impartiality and adopt a professional behavior”, Muhammad Eslami said here following a cabinet meeting.
His remarks came after IAEA Director Rafael Grossi claimed in an interview with Italian news agency ANSA that Iran had “developed much stronger capabilities”,  and had uranium at 60% of purity, just short of military grade 90%.
The Islamic Republic “is thus practically at the same level as nuclear-armed states”, Grossi said. 
He also said that the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the world powers in 2015, known as the JCPOA, was no longer relevant, and that there was a need for a new understanding about Iran’s nuclear program.
Responding to the claims, Eslami said, “It is not acceptable for an international institution to address just one aspect of the issue, in a provocative manner at that, and refuse to point to the main aspect, which is the obligated parties’ non-commitment.” 
“We expect the agency’s director-general, who is a veteran diplomat, to take these issues into consideration,” Eslami noted.
Back in 2018, the Islamic Republic resorted to a number of legitimate retaliatory measures in line with its entitlement under its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.
The steps came in response to the United States’ unilateral and illegal withdrawal from the deal and its Western allies’ refusal to restore the deal to its former glory by bringing Washington back into the accord.
Tehran took the measures after a drawn-out hiatus, during 
which it allowed the parties to the deal to walk back their unconstructive steps.
Last month, the U.S. and its allies pushed the IAEA’s Board of Governors into passing a resolution, which repeated the Western countries’ unfounded accusation against the Islamic Republic of insufficient cooperation with the IAEA. 
Deputy FM for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Grossi’s remarks are full of unproven and imaginary hypotheses about the objectives of the Iranian nuclear program.
“It is expected that the director-general of an expert organization speaks based on facts and the technical reports of the Agency’s inspectors,” he said.
Gharibabadi said Iran’s nuclear program serves the country’s technical needs and fully complies with the IAEA safeguards.
He said that the IAEA director-general’s statements are mixed with political overtones, while he should not ignore the rights of sovereign countries to peaceful use of nuclear energy, including fuel enrichment.
Iran’s nuclear enrichment program has no military objectives, he said, adding the country has no limits to enrich uranium so long as it is under IAEA’s oversight and does not deviate from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Gharibabad said that the existing standoff is due to the failure of JCPOA signatories to fulfill their commitments and the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the agreement which did not feature in Grossi’s interview.
He said constructive and fair dialogue based on mutual respect and balanced commitments, including the lifting of sanctions on Iran, is the only solution to the current standoff.  
On Tuesday, Iran warned against invoking the so-called snapback by three European members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying it would firmly respond to the measure. 
Such an action by the E3 – France, Britain and Germany -- will be both unlawful and counterproductive, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani sad. 
“Iran categorically rejects any threats of invoking the so-called ‘snapback,’ by E3 an action that would be both unlawful and counterproductive,” he told a UN Security Council meeting on the JCPOA.
“Let’s make it clear once and for all: the so-called ‘Snapback’ is not a tool in your hand to be abused for threatening Iran. Iran has made it very clear that such a provocative move will be reciprocated by a firm and proportionate response,” he said.
The so-called snapback mechanism allows for the return of anti-Iran sanctions suspended under the deal.
Iravani reiterated Iran’s position that the root cause of the impasse facing the JCPOA is the unilateral withdrawal of the U.S., and the E3’s failure to honor their commitments under the accord.
“Iran has consistently acted in good faith to uphold the environment for the revival of the JCPOA, even after the United States’ withdrawal and E3’s persistence of violating their commitments,” he said.
“Iran engaged in the Vienna talks in good faith, showing utmost flexibility to achieve a balanced and mutually beneficial agreement. Unfortunately, the unrealistic demands of the E3 and the United States, their lack of political will, domestic political considerations, and attempts to tie the negotiations to unrelated issues ultimately failed the efforts to revive the deal. Blaming Iran for the failure to conclude the negotiations is both unjust and factually incorrect,” he added.
Iravani said that Iran also rejects attempts to link Iran’s JCPOA commitments to unrelated regional or geopolitical issues.
“Instead of diverting attention to fabricated threats, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, as permanent members of the Security Council must allow this Council to live up to its responsibility and address and confront the genuine sources of insecurity and instability in our region: the Israeli regime’s illicit nuclear weapons arsenal, its decades of aggression and occupation, and its ongoing campaign of systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” he said.
“Further, Israel’s relentless aggression and atrocious crimes against Syria and Lebanon underscore its role as the primary driver of violence and instability in the region.”
Iravani said Iran’s decision to walk back on some of its JCPOA commitments was a response to the West’s bad promises.
He stressed that Iran is committed to continuing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency according to its obligations.
The Iranian diplomat urged the E3 and the U.S. to abandon confrontational approaches and demonstrate a true commitment to diplomacy.