Watch: Iranian official compares IAEA inspectors to cockroaches

In a recent television interview, senior Iranian official Mohammad-Javad Larijani, Head of the Institute for Research and Fundamental Sciences, described the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) observers and inspectors as “cockroaches,” and said they should not be allowed into Iran or its scientific facilities.

Larijani also said that Iran is under no obligation to provide the inspectors with information. He stressed that Iran is not actually committed to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) or the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) because the other signatories are doing whatever they want

He added that Iran has the right to engage in all types of nuclear research, including laser enrichment. He also said that Iran is not limited by the level of its uranium enrichment and that in some cases, it needs uranium enriched to 90%.

Larijani’s comments were made in a June 12 interview on Iran’s Channel 2 TV and were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

The interview came before Iran announced new steps to further decrease its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and imposed several rounds of crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran announced last month it was suspending some of its commitments under the 2015 deal in response to the US withdrawal.

Last month, an Iranian official said that the Islamic Republic has quadrupled its enrichment rate of low-enriched uranium and that it no longer accepts the restriction on uranium enrichment as it was written in the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has released several reports indicating that Iran is implementing its side of the 2015 nuclear deal, including two weeks ago when it said Iran’s stocks of key nuclear materials have increased but are still within the limits set by the deal.