Iran expects IAEA not to aggrandize routine Safeguards examination

"The recent report shows that the agency continues to have full access in Iran, and despite the cessation of parts of its commitments under the JCPOA, which is aimed at striking a proportional balance between the rights and obligations of all sides, it is still able to verify not only the implementation of the commitments, but also cessation of parts of them," Kazem Gharib Abadi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Vienna told reporters in reaction to the recent report released by the Agency on 11 November 2019.

"In reaction to the recent statements by the Agency's officials on a location in Iran, the Permanent Representative stated that: Since the beginning, and after Iran was informed by the Agency of the questions about the specific location, it has agreed to enter into a very constructive and positive engagement with the Agency in order to clarify the situation and address the relevant questions," he added.

"With the utmost cooperation and clarification, Iran has also provided the necessary access for the Agency," he noted.

"As it was also emphasized by the Agency officials in different circumstances, the cooperation between Iran and the Agency on this issue is still ongoing," Gharib Abadi said.

"Therefore, any attempt to prejudge and present a immature assessment of the situation, would be aimed at distorting the facts for political gains."

"Raising such questions in the interactions between the Agency and its Members is a normal issue, and since the two sides are cooperating to resolve them, one should not abuse and aggrandize it for political purposes," he said.

Earlier, IAEA spokesperson said that it will consult with Iran for clarity about preventing the Agency's inspector to Natanz enrichment site.

"The IAEA does not go into details in public about such matters, but, based on the information available to us, the Agency does not agree with Iran’s characterization of the situation involving the inspector, who was carrying out routine Safeguards examination in Iran." it added in a statement.

Based on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six world powers in 2015, Iran was not supposed to carry out enrichment in Fordow, she said, adding that the enrichment process has various steps the first of which is the transfer of materials and in the second step it should be connected to feeding lines.

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