Iran questions integrity of IAEA report

Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) challenges various aspects of the agency’s recent report on Tehran’s nuclear work.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh expounded on the nature of the Iranian nuclear program on Wednesday, two days after the report issued by the IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano called on Tehran to increase its cooperation with the agency and abide by UN Security Council resolutions and suspend its uranium enrichment.

In a Wednesday meeting attended by Director of IAEA’s Division of Operations Department of Safeguards Herman Nackaerts, Soltanieh posed certain rhetorical questions to enlighten the members about the persisting ambiguities in the report.

“Do you acknowledge that Iran has fully met the requests pertaining to the [Non-Proliferation Treaty] NPT-type Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement,” he asked, insisting that the answer was affirmative.

“Do you acknowledge that Iran and the Agency have worked out a modality plan, under which certain issues were resolved and there only remained the issue of alleged studies which also received Iran’s cooperation,” he then asked.

On the issue of alleged studies, Soltanieh emphasized that the IAEA, under US pressure, had failed to provide Iran with the pertaining documents adding that the new report should have clarified that the issue of alleged studies had not been authenticated, as confirmed by former IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The Iranian envoy added that the issues raised in the alleged studies section, including “high explosives testing, and a missile re-entry vehicle project,” were outside the jurisdiction of the IAEA.

Soltanieh went further to mention certain measures taken voluntarily by Iran with the aim of building trust over its nuclear work, expressing Iran’s dissatisfaction at the fact that such moves were misinterpreted as part of Tehran’s natural commitments and obligations.

He called to mind another good-will gesture by Tehran over its nuclear issue, saying it voluntarily implemented the Additional Protocol for two and a half years. Soltanieh explained further that Iran only stopped the implementation of the protocol after the UN Security Council illegally intervened in its nuclear issue.

The UNSC has imposed three rounds of sanctions resolutions against Iran.

This is while, the IAEA in all of its reports on the Iranian nuclear program has stated that “the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran.”

As a result, Tehran rejects the logic behind such punitive measures, arguing that the IAEA — the only authorized body to verify its nuclear work — has found no evidence suggesting that Iran is pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program.