Iran says agrees with IAEA to regulate relations based on safeguards agreements

Tehran: The Iranian nuclear chief has said that Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed to regulate their relations on the basis of the safeguards agreements.

President of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami made the remarks in an address to a joint press conference with visiting IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in Tehran following their meetings earlier on Saturday.

Eslami said basing the two sides’ relations on the safeguards agreements helps the IAEA be assured of Iran’s nuclear activities and prevent any discrepancy or contradiction, Xinhua news agency reported.

The AEOI President noted that the communication “should be in a way to build trust,” adding the two sides should shield it from external interference so as to let cooperation and exchange continue in a “trustworthy manner” for resolving their issues.

He revealed that the AEOI and the agency have agreed that the latter should take part in the 30th Iranian Nuclear Conference to know better about Iran’s nuclear programme and the capabilities of the country’s scientists.

On the possibility of the issuance of an anti-Iran resolution in the next meeting of the IAEA Board of Directors, Eslami said should such a thing take place, Iranian authorities will definitely make decisions accordingly and the AEOI will act based on them.

Grossi, for his part, said the IAEA is ready to continue its cooperation with Iran and seeks to have a “serious and systematic” dialogue with Iran, adding that the talks on the JCPOA’s revival are on the agenda and will continue.

The cooperation between the agency and Tehran and the “good agreement” the two sides are expected to reach will contribute to the JCPOA’s revival, he noted.

He condemned any military action against nuclear facilities and power plants anywhere in the world.

He also gave the assurance that the IAEA has never been and will not ever be used as a political tool.

In recent months, the IAEA has criticised Iran for its lack of cooperation with the agency.

In November last year, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution proposed by the US, Britain, France and Germany that called on Iran to collaborate with the agency’s investigators regarding the alleged “traces of uranium” at a number of its “undeclared” sites.

Iran has repeatedly rejected such allegations and insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The US, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.

The talks on the JCPOA’s revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022.

IANS