AEOI expounds on agreements with IAEA
The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) elaborated on the issues agreed between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during a visit by the agency chief to Tehran.
Behrouz Kamalvandi provided the details in an interview with IRNA published on Sunday, saying the latest agreements reached between Tehran and the IAEA during Rafael Grossi’s visit comply with the strategic law passed by the Iranian Parliament in December 2020, Press TV reoprted.
Issuing a statement on Saturday, the AEOI and the IAEA affirmed they had agreed to take steps to enhance cooperation and expedite the resolution of outstanding safeguards issues between the two sides.
The statement was released at the end of Grossi’s two-day visit to Iran, during which he met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and AEOI President Mohammad Eslami.
The two sides agreed that bilateral interactions will be carried out in a spirit of collaboration, with Iran expressing readiness to continue its cooperation and provide further information to the agency to address the outstanding safeguards issues.
Kamalvandi said, “These agreements [with the IAEA] are in no way in contravention of the Parliament’s strategic law and will be followed up on in total conformity with this law.”
The law, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, was adopted by Iranian lawmakers to counter sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and its Western allies, and 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 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), such as ending the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The AEOI spokesman rejected allegations that Iran has agreed to give the agency access to certain people, saying, “During the two days that Mr. Grossi and his accompanying delegation were in Iran, no discussion was made of access to people and no text was drawn up on this issue.
“Of course, even if such a request had been made, it would have been definitely turned down [by Iran].”
Kamalvandi also explained about a 50 percent increase in the IAEA’s inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, saying, “Since [uranium] enrichment to 60 percent purity level had been started for the first time at Fordo [nuclear] facility, the number of inspections had to increase in line with the safeguards [agreement between Iran and the agency].
“Basically, when the enrichment level increases or more sensitive materials are introduced into a facility, the number of inspections increases based on a mutual agreement between the two sides.”
Therefore, the spokesman said, the number of Fordo inspections, which previously stood at eight, was increased to 11 in view of the increased level of enrichment there.
The AEOI spokesman also rejected allegations about an agreement with the agency on access to the alleged “three locations” as many times as the agency demanded, saying, “No discussion was made about the frequency of [the IAEA’s] access to three alleged locations.
“In view of the previous access to these locations, more extensive access [to them] does not seem to be necessary, and the agency has made no request [in this regard] so far.”