Tehran agrees to IAEA technical team’s visit in coming weeks: Deputy FM
Gharibabadi asserts non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear program based on UN reports
The Islamic Republic has agreed to allow a technical team from the UN nuclear watchdog to visit in the coming weeks to discuss "a new modality" on relations between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Tehran, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Wednesday.
"The delegation will come to Iran to discuss the modality, not to go to the (nuclear) sites," he told reporters during a visit to New York.
"We are in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss a new process regarding Iran-IAEA relations in the new circumstances. In this regard, we have actually agreed to accept an IAEA technical delegation to travel to Iran very soon, within the next two to three weeks, to discuss this process."
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian gave a final approval to a law approved by the Parliament to suspend cooperation with the IAEA following its politically-motivated resolution which paved the way for US-Israeli acts of aggression against the country last month.
Gharibabadi also discussed with reporters his country’s recourse against further financial punishment ahead of a critical meeting Friday with Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul.
The three European countries have suggested triggering a so-called snapback provision in the 2015 nuclear agreement that would reimpose sanctions on Iran if there is no progress on a deal by August.
Gharibabadi said Friday’s meeting is very important but that its success will depend on how the Europeans approach Iran this time around.
“We have always valued our meetings with the European countries. But there is an important issue: I think we have always told them that the policies of the European countries should be independent,” he said. “They should not coordinate their positions with the Americans.”
He added, “If this is the case, why should we negotiate with the Europeans when we can negotiate with the Americans?”
In a meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, in New York on Tuesday, he underscored the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear program, saying none of the reports published by the IAEA indicates any deviation in Tehran’s nuclear activities.
Pointing to regularly-issued reports by the IAEA on the Islamic Republic’s compliance with Iran’s nuclear deal obligations, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),Gharibabadi said, “Not a single word about the diversion of Iran's nuclear program has been mentioned in any of these reports.”
Rejecting as baseless and repetitive the Israeli regime’s claims over the past three decades regarding Iran's attempt to acquire nuclear weapons, Gharibabadi said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, based on religious principles and decrees, has never sought weapons of mass destruction. These claims are leveled while the Zionist regime is not a member of any disarmament treaties for weapons of mass destruction and is equipped with all types of such weapons.”
The Iranian diplomat also rebuked the double standards of international institutions, including the United Nations, demanding that the world body play a more effective and impartial role in addressing the acts of aggression committed by the US and Israel against the Islamic Republic.
The Israeli regime launched an aggression on Iran’s military and civilian infrastructure on June 13 that killed nearly 1,100 people, including women and children, as well as a dozen top military brass.
The US, which had been in talks with Tehran about its nuclear program since April, joined the war on June 22 by targeting several key nuclear sites.