TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran says its response to a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) against Tehran’s nuclear energy program was “decisive and appropriate.”
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh said the resolution has created obstacles on the path of implementing the Iran nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
On Wednesday, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution proposed by the United States and the three European parties to the 2015 Iran deal – Britain, France, and Germany – which accused Iran of not cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog.
The trigger for the resolution was a report issued by the IAEA after its Director General Rafael Grossi made a controversial visit to Israel and met the regime’s authorities late last month.
“We could not leave the IAEA’s political and non-technical action unanswered,” Khatibzadeh said, referring to Iran’s further reduction of its nuclear obligations under the 2015 Iran deal as a response to the resolution. “Our response was decisive and appropriate.”
On Thursday, Iran announced it had begun injecting uranium gas into advanced centrifuges and disconnected some of the UN nuclear agency’s cameras monitoring its sites outside the Safeguards Agreement.
The Iranian spokesman went on to say that “the abrupt change in the IAEA chief’s tone, his manner of negotiations, and his discourse when he addressed the European Parliament clearly shows that he was acting on the orders of an outside player.”
Khatibzadeh also touched on the Vienna talks to revive the Iran deal, saying an agreement is within reach if the United States abandons delusions and fulfills its commitments.
He went on to criticize a recent trip by Grossi to the Israeli-occupied territories, stating that the move seriously harmed the credibility of the UN nuclear watchdog.
He said despite the fact that the IAEA is required to remain impartial, the nuclear body’s director general traveled to Israel, which has not accepted any nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
“It is unfortunate that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has granted the unlawful regime of Israel permission to make a mockery of the international organization through its agents, and erode its credibility,” he noted.
He said that Grossi has “made a trip to a wrong place and at the wrong time” and that he has “met with wrong people and dealt a heavy blow to the agency’s credibility.”
“These actions have discredited the achievements of international organizations. Under the Statute of the IAEA, its chief is obligated to ensure the independence and impartiality of the organization,” he added.
Khatibzadeh also condemned the imprisonment of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat detained in Belgium on false terror-related charges, and called for his immediate release.
The spokesman slammed Assadi’s detention as a gross violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
“By the order of the president [Ebrahim Raisi], an international legal complaint was lodged, demanding the release of Mr. Assadi. The Belgian government has violated the convention and developed a dangerous contrivance. Mr. Assadi must be released unconditionally and his dignity restored,” Khatibzadeh said.
