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Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Vienna-Based International Organizations Kazzem Qaribabadi underlined that the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Safeguards Agreement with Iran is harbinger of positive and constructive prospects for relations between the Islamic Republic and the IAEA.
“The report deals with the development of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA over the past three months,” Qaribabadi said.
He reiterated that the report is significant and can be scrutinized from two angles, and said, “It indicates the constructive interaction of the two sides during the period to reach a common understanding and find solutions to issues.”
Qaribabadi added that in terms of content, this report clearly portrays a clear and positive image of the current state of cooperation and a positive and constructive outlook in relations between Iran and the IAEA, which is expected to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of IAEA member states and the Board of Governors.
In relevant remarks in late August, Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said “the IAEA has approved Tehran’s full compliance with its commitments concerning its nuclear activities”.
“So far, we have received at least 17 reports from the IAEA and the Director-General [Rafael Mariano Grossi] indicating that Iran has complied with all its obligations,” Kamalvandi said, adding, “But in connection with the request made by the IAEA about a year ago, especially at the Board of Governors meetings in March and July, we believed that some of the IAEA’s questions and requests for access were not defined in the interactive framework.”
“We had informed the IAEA that none of its requests complied with the three frameworks. For this reason, Iran and the IAEA had a dispute at some point. However, in any case, this type of information, which is the basis of the IAEA’s request, had no legal basis, and on the other hand, it was based on a series of fake documents of the Zionist regime,” he went on to say.
“As a result of this agreement, after Iran’s concerns were resolved, we agreed to provide these accesses voluntarily under the [Additional] Protocol, as there is an article in the Additional Protocol that a member state can implement on a voluntary basis,” Kamalvandi further said.
“Thus, some discussions were held to ensure that questions and requests were raised within the legal framework. These talks have been going on for the past few months, and finally, we reached the desired result during the two-day visit of the IAEA Director-General and very intensive negotiations,” the spokesman noted.
“We have seen a wide range of media outlets and international figures took a stand on the agreement between Iran and the IAEA, and it was largely welcomed,” he added.
“Grossi’s visit to Tehran was a successful trip, at the end of which a very strong statement was issued in which all the considerations of Iran were taken into account,” AEOI spokesman said.
“Iran expects the IAEA and Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) members to perform their inherent duties. The IAEA must, naturally, perform its duties and missions professionally, impartially and without political intentions and without accepting political pressures,” Kamalvandi stressed.
Grossi, heading a delegation, arrived in Tehran on August 24.
During his two-day visit, he held talks with Head of the AEOI Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran permitted IAEA to get access to two sites in the country, but meantime, the UN-affiliated nuclear watchdog said it would have no more demands to visit other centers undeclared by Tehran in the present context.
“Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement on the resolution of the safeguards implementation issues specified by the IAEA, in good faith. In this regard, Iran is voluntarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations specified by the IAEA and facilitating the IAEA verification activities to resolve these issues,” a statement issued by the two sides in Tehran said on Wednesday August 26.
“The IAEA verification activities will proceed in accordance with the CSA and the AP, and the IAEA’s standard verification practice as implemented for all States with CSAs and APs on equal basis and without discrimination,” it added.
“… the IAEA and Iran recognize that these safeguards implementation issues are exclusively related to nuclear material and activities subject to safeguards under the CSA and the AP,” the statement reiterated.
“In this present context, based on analysis of available information to the IAEA, the IAEA does not have further questions to Iran and further requests for access to locations other than those declared by Iran under its CSA and AP,” the two sides underscored in their final statement.
In relevant remarks earlier, the Iranian foreign minister once again stressed his country’s full transparency in terms of nuclear activities, adding that over 92 percent of the IAEA’s total inspections in the world are conducted in Iran.
“Iran has been fully transparent: over 92 percent of IAEA total comparable global inspections were carried out in Iran,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday August 25.
“Some are intent to torpedo transparency thru pressure to reopen closed matters. We want normal relations with IAEA,” he added.
Zarif met and held talks with Grossi in Tehran in late August.
During the meeting, Zarif emphasized that IAEA should act professionally and impartially in its interactions.
