TEHRAN -- Iran’s representative to the international organizations in Vienna said Wednesday the country’s interaction with the UN nuclear agency will continue despite differences on technical issues.
“Despite our technical differences with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), interaction between the two sides continue in this area with the aim of final resolution of the issues,” Muhammad Reza Ghaebi said.
He urged IAEA member states against issuing “hasty or politically-motivated” remarks concerning the status of cooperation between the Islamic Republic and the nuclear agency.
Ghaebi cited the agency’s recent quarterly report, in which it affirmed conducting routine regulatory checks on Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The report cited only one instance of difference arising from Iran’s inability to allow the agency access to one location owing to underway legal and security investigation into a “terrorist action” targeting the facility, he said.
The Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and scientists have come under repeated, and often deadly, terrorist attacks. The Zionist regime has either admitted to conducting the incidents or is the prime suspect in all of them.
Iran has asked the agency to help it complete the investigations, the official said.
He also noted that the IAEA report has verified Iran’s enrichment of uranium up to 60 percent in purity, beyond the level enshrined in the country’s 2015 nuclear deal with world countries, noting that Tehran has already notified the agency of the move.
Iran’s decision to go beyond the specified level fits well within the agreement, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The deal entitles member states to take remedial steps in case of other parties’ non-compliance.
The Islamic Republic initiated its countermeasures in 2019, a year after the U.S. left the deal and returned its illegal sanctions against the country.
According to Ghaebi, IAEA’s Director General Rafael Grossi has accepted an invitation by the Islamic Republic to visit the country for high-level meetings, including with Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian, next week.