Iran committed to confronting sanctions: AEOI chief to Al Mayadeen

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
7 May 2024 20:45

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran calls on parties of the nuclear agreement to abide by their responsibilities.

Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's atomic energy department, greets Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi ahead of a press conference in Isfahan on May 7, 2024. (AFP)

Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), pointed out that the United States and the European Troika violated the nuclear agreement, while his country unilaterally continued to honor its commitments for a certain period.

On the sidelines of the Isfahan International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, Eslami confirmed that Tehran is abiding, under current circumstances, by the "Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions" law passed by the Iranian Parliament.

He told Al Mayadeen that Iran "is proceeding on this path," urging the other party to abide by its responsibilities.

The senior Iranian official also welcomed the willingness of the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to play a political role in bringing all parties back to the nuclear agreement.

Earlier, an informed source told Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, is engaged in talks with parties of the nuclear agreement over lifting sanctions imposed on Iran.

The source denied direct negotiations between Iran and the United States, confirming that the exchange of messages "is being conducted within previously established frameworks."

Grossi, who is in Tehran for high-level talks with Iranian officials and the International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, said he "proposed a set of concrete practical measures for the revitalization of the 4 March 2023 Joint Statement with aim of restoring process of confidence building and increasing transparency" between the IAEA and Iran.

He was referring to the statement issued at the end of his visit to Iran in March 2023, where both sides agreed to continue their interactions in "a spirit of collaboration, and in full conformity with the competences of the IAEA and the rights and obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the comprehensive Safeguards Agreement."

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog claimed there had been a "slowdown" in the agreement's implementation, including the number of inspections being reduced and the accreditation of a group of IAEA experts being withdrawn by Iran.

The IAEA has in recent months criticized Iran for an alleged lack of cooperation on issues, including the expansion of its nuclear work, the barring of inspectors, and deactivating the agency's monitoring devices at its nuclear facilities.

"We have this legal right to reduce our commitments when the other parties do not adhere to their obligations," Eslami said during a joint news conference with Grossi.