Iran to protest to IAEA over leaked nuclear document: Official

Iran says it will lodge a protest with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over recent media leaks of confidential information about Tehran’s long-term nuclear program.

Last week, the Associated Press cited a classified document, stating that Tehran’s scaling back of its nuclear program under a deal with the P5+1 group of countries “will start to ease years before the 15-year accord expires.”

Reacting to the leaks, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said Sunday that “the parts [of the document] published were confidential and were supposed to remain so.”

“Our assumption is that it has been leaked by the (IAEA) Agency,” the Iranian official added.

AEOI head Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday Iran had asked the IAEA to keep the data on Tehran’s long-term nuclear program confidential as there is no reason to make the information public.

Tehran also agreed that a joint commission, which oversees the implementation of the nuclear agreement, will be notified of the plans in a confidential manner, Salehi added.

“We do not intend to make this plan known to the public and (IAEA)’s action is a breach of promise,” the official said.