TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran insisted it is ready to resolve any issues with the UN nuclear watchdog, expressing “disappointment” in a note circulated Thursday over the latest report of IAEA which highlighted blocked access.

In a note to the International Atomic Energy Agency dated June 8, Iran said it had held meetings with agency representatives in Tehran on April 29 and May 16 to discuss the access issues, followed by written correspondence and a fresh proposal to meet with IAEA representatives.

In the note circulated by Tehran’s mission to the UN in Vienna on Thursday, Iran insisted it “continued its constructive engagement with the agency during the past two months, with a view to reaching a common understanding… which would pave the way for the resolution of concerning issues.”

The IAEA said in a report on June 5 that Iran has blocked inspections at two sites where nuclear activity may have occurred in the past.

Iran argues that the requests for access are based on “fabricated information”, saying the United States and Israel were trying to “exert pressure on the agency”.

Israel has claimed that it has new information on Iran’s alleged previous nuclear weapons program.

The IAEA has said previously that its access requests were based on “concrete information” that had been validated.

In its note, Iran expressed “deep regret and disappointment” at the IAEA’s latest report.

The report is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors starting next Monday.

Russia stance

Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said expressed opposition to “the use of information received from third countries”.

“Problems with the access of IAEA to 2 sites in #Iran stem to a large extent from the fact that there are no clear rules in the Agency on the use of information received from third countries. It is high time to address this issue, as Russia proposed long ago, to prevent a repetition,” Ulyanov tweeted Friday.

In an earlier tweet, Ulyanov said “there is no urgency” to discuss Iran’s access issue at the upcoming meeting because the IAEA’s recent report “refers to possible activities which were stopped by Iran upon its own decision 16 years ago”.

Kazem Gharib Abadi, Iran’s permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations, said the US and some Western nations are seeking to make it possible decision-taking via a vote in the virtual meeting despite opposition by some members including Russia.

He added the US “continues to undermine international mechanisms and procedures” of the IAEA and other international organizations.

Gharibabadi said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is expected to give a report on the verification of the implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015.

AFP contributed to this story.