Tehran to respond to any anti-Iran action at IAEA board meeting
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Tehran warns the UN nuclear watchdog against taking any resolution against Iran taken at the IAEA board of governors meeting.
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International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi attends a news conference during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 13, 2021 (Reuters)
Tehran does not prejudge but will respond accordingly to whatever happens at the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday, referring to the possibility of the board issuing a resolution against the Islamic Republic at the meeting.
The BoG of the IAEA holds a meeting every three months, and the governors discuss safeguards related to Iran and the report on the implementation of the JCPOA, with these issues being at the top of their agenda, Khatibzadeh explained.
Khatibzadeh referred to a report presented by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi as "hasty", saying it ignored all the actions and responses that Iran carefully and technically presented to the IAEA.
"Traces of the fake Zionist regime ("Israel") can be seen in such a report," he added. "Tehran neither accepts this report nor the attempts of three European countries and their American allies to issue a resolution against Iran."
He also touched on sanctions against the Islamic Republic, stressing that issuing anti-Iranian resolutions is not constructive. "We believe that it will have a negative impact on Iran's overall cooperation with the agency and the nuclear talks."
All members of the Board of Governors, he underlined, must be vigilant about the intentions of the Israeli occupation.
Grossi, addressing the quarterly meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors earlier today, said his report on the verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of UNSC resolution 2231 covers the UN nuclear watchdog's relevant activities in the past few months.
"Up to 23 February 2021, the agency verified and monitored the implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA. However, since that date, these activities have been seriously affected by Iran's decision to stop the implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA, including the Additional Protocol," Grossi said.
The IAEA chief's words come in light of the US withdrawing from the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the European nations who are parties to the deal (Germany, France, and Britain) failing to fulfill their obligations under the accord. Following the West's failure to fulfill its obligations, Iran decided to stop implementing its step-by-step voluntary nuclear commitments by granting 60 days to diplomacy.
The P4+1, the other parties to the agreement, agreed with Iran to hold the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement and return the United States to it following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who accompanied his decision with the imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.
