Iran: IAEA must not cave to pressure from US

Iran’s representative to IAEA on urges UN nuclear watchdog to remain “impartial” regarding his country’s nuclear activities.

Iran’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) on Saturday urged the UN nuclear watchdog to remain “impartial” regarding his country’s nuclear activities, the Xinhua news agency reports.

The envoy, Kazem Gharibabadi, said there have been pressures from the United States on the IAEA over Iran’s nuclear program.

Despite these pressures, “the Agency shall remain independent, professional and impartial,” he added.

“We should all reject these pressures which are detrimental to the interests of the whole international community,” he noted.

On Friday, according to Xinhua, Gharibabadi said the IAEA’s “sole role is to monitor and verify the voluntary nuclear-related measures (by Iran) as detailed in the JCPOA (the 2015 international nuclear deal) and to provide regular updates in this regard.”

The IAEA “has no right to assess the Iranian nuclear work,” he added.

His remarks came in response to recent comments by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who said recently that Iran should not follow through on threats to increase uranium enrichment and throw out inspectors.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.

The IAEA recently released a report which found that Iran has fired up advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges that it had installed at its Natanz site in violation of the 2015 agreement.

The Iranian parliament several weeks ago passed a bill urging the administration of President Hassan Rouhani to decrease international monitoring of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities by the IAEA.