Iran entitled to issue, deny visas to IAEA staff: Envoy
ILNA: Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) says it is the Islamic Republic’s sovereign right to issue visas or deny entry to the agency’s employees.
“I should say that in addition to[issuing visas to] the principal and permanent members[of the IAEA] in the past few months, Iran has also granted visas to three… new members of the agency’s team of experts, ” Reza Najafi said on Wednesday.
Najafi’s remarks came after Reuters quoted the IAEA as saying that Tehran has refused to grant an entry permit to a member of an IAEA investigation team that visited the Islamic Republic on August ۳۱.
" Under the IAEA regulations, Iran is under no obligation to grant visas to the agency’s employees, " the Iranian official said, adding, " Iran reserves the right to deny[visas to] even the appointed inspectors, and the Islamic Republic has exercised this right in the past. "
Iran’s IAEA envoy further touched on the latest round of negotiations between the agency and Iran in the Iranian capital, Tehran, saying, “Talks between delegations from Iran and the agency ended after two days. ”
The high - level team, which was led by Tero Tapio Varjoranta, the IAEA deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards, arrived in Tehran on Monday to discuss the implementation of the remaining nuclear transparency measures agreed in May between Iran and the agency.
He said all remaining issues were discussed during the negotiations, including how two mutually - agreed transparency measures should be implemented.
He further noted that that the two sides will have another meeting in the near future, most probably in November.
Iran and the IAEA signed a joint statement last November to outline a roadmap for mutual cooperation on certain outstanding nuclear issues.
On May ۲۰, the two sides held a technical meeting to discuss the Framework for Cooperation agreed in November ۲۰۱۳. During the meeting, they agreed to five practical measures which were to be implemented by August ۲۵.
In a report on September ۶, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed Iran had implemented three of five transparency steps that it was supposed to take by August ۲۵.
The report said Iran cut its stockpile of low - enriched uranium to about ۷.۸ tons in August from ۸.۵ tons in May, adding that Tehran has stopped the enrichment of UF۶ above the ۵ - percent level, and no longer has any stockpile of UF۶ enriched up to ۲۰ - percent.
No new facilities have been installed at Arak heavy water reactor in central Iran, and there has been no fuel tests or production process at the site, said the report, adding that Iran continues to provide the agency with controlled access to centrifuge assembly units and stockpile facilities.
The IAEA, however, claimed Iran has been slow in providing the agency with information about its past nuclear activities, including alleged experiments on explosives that could be used for military purposes and studies related to calculating nuclear explosive yields.
Tehran has repeatedly denied accusations that its nuclear activities has military dimensions. The IAEA has, on numerous occasions, confirmed non - diversion in Tehran’s civilian nuclear work.