Iran says ‘ready to co-operate’ with UN nuclear watchdog
Iran reaffirmed on Monday its “readiness” to co-operate with the UN nuclear watchdog, ater the agency said in a report it “cannot assure” the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The finding last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) further complicated diplomatic efforts to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, including the United States.
Iran is “ready to co-operate with the agency to clear up the false and unrealistic perceptions regarding its peaceful nuclear activities,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a press conference.
Tehran declares its “readiness to continue constructive co-operation with the IAEA,” Kanani added, also pointing to the agency’s “obligations.”
In its report last Wednesday, the IAEA said it was “not in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.”
The IAEA has been pressing Iran for answers on the previous presence of traces of nuclear material at three undeclared sites.
Iran is ‘ready to co-operate with the agency to clear up the false and unrealistic perceptions regarding its peaceful nuclear activities,’ said foreign ministry spokesman
The issue led to a resolution criticising Iran being passed at the June meeting of the IAEA’S board of governors.
Tehran, which has consistently denied seeking nuclear weapons, responded to the resolution by disconnecting 27 cameras allowing the agency to monitor some of its nuclear activities.
The IAEA board met again in Vienna on Monday for its quarterly meeting.
“To our knowledge, no drat resolution has been submited for this meeting,” Kanani said.
Any further “unconstructive action” by the agency, Kanani said, “will again have unconstructive results.”
Tehran has demanded that the IAEA’S probe be concluded as part of any deal - one of the sticking points in the talks to restore the 2015 agreement that gave Iran much-needed relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, reimposing biting economic sanctions that prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
Last month, the European Union put forward a “final” drat of the agreement to lit sanctions on Tehran once again and push Iran to fully comply with its obligations.
Ater 16 months of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Aug. 8 the bloc had laid down a final offer to overcome an impasse for the revival of the agreement.
Earlier this month, Iran sent its latest response to the EU’S proposed text.
Western diplomats said it was a step backwards, with Tehran seeking to link a revival of the deal with the closure of IAEA investigations into the uranium traces.
Widely believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arms but which sees Iran as a existential threat, Israel says it will atack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to contain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has vowed a “crushing” response to any Israeli aggression.
Iran’s ground forces chief Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari said on Monday that Tehran has developed an advanced long-range suicide drone “designed to hit Israel’s Tel Aviv, Haifa,” the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The director of Israel’s Mossad spy service, David Barnea, warned Iran’s clerical rulers against “resorting to force against Israel or Israelis.”
“The top Iranian echelon must be aware that resorting to force against Israel or Israelis, directly from Iran or via proxies, will meet a painful response against those responsible - on Iranian soil,” Barnea said in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv on Monday.
“This will happen in Tehran, in Kermanshah, in Isfahan,” he added, referring to areas of Iran where authorities have reported sabotage operations against facilities or personnel linked to the country’s military or nuclear programmes.
Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power, has pledged never to allow Iran to obtain atomic weapons, saying Tehran advocates its destruction.
Iran denies ever seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic programme is peaceful.