Official Calls on IAEA to Live Up to Commitments

Date: 17 April 2024 - 22:02

News ID: ۱۲۶۳۶۰

TEHRAN – The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Wednesday the country will not accept any nuclear activity that would negatively affect cooperation between the AEOI and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Engagement with, and supervision by the IAEA are ongoing, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi is to travel to Iran in the future,” said Muhammad Eslami.
“Reports announced by Grossi, the director of the IAEA’s Board of Governors or the UN Security Council have two parts: one is based on the JCPOA (Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal) and the other related to the Safeguards Agreement,” he explained.
“Relations are ongoing as far as the Safeguards Agreement is concerned and the IAEA’s cameras have been installed and they keep constant supervision and their information about our performance is always up to date,” he added.
“At the moment, there are 120 approved inspectors who are either stationed in Iran or keep travelling to and from the country,” said Eslami.
“The IAEA submits a report about Iran’s nuclear activities to the Board of Governors every three months and to the UN Security Council every six months, and the issue of compliance or non-compliance of Iran’s nuclear activities with the JCPOA is the main focus of the report,” Eslami said.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any nuclear activity that impairs the interaction between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he added.
Underlining that the Islamic Republic is committed to the 2020 strategic law concerning the JCPOA, the head of the AEOI said if the other side fails to fulfill its obligations, Iran will follow suit.

“If they fulfill their commitments, the Islamic Republic will also live up to its end of the bargain in the JCPOA regarding the clauses on certain restrictions.”

The law, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, was adopted by Iranian lawmakers in December 2020 to counter sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and its Western allies, and to promote the country’s peaceful nuclear program.

Under the parliament’s law, the Iranian administration is required to restrict the IAEA’s inspections and accelerate the development of the country’s nuclear program beyond the limits set under the JCPOA.

Iran and the IAEA are in a dispute triggered by the agency’s Israeli-influenced accusations, which were leveled against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities. The UN atomic agency insisted on investigating what it claims to be “uranium traces” found at “undeclared nuclear sites” in Iran.

The row turned into a sticking point in the talks aimed at reviving the US-abandoned nuclear agreement, known as the JCPOA.

In 2019, Iran started to roll back the limits it had accepted under the landmark nuclear deal with world powers that had been signed in 2015. The decision came a year after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.