Iran’s envoy: IAEA inspections ongoing

Despite Iran’s decision to refuse entry to two International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, its envoy to the agency says inspections remain ongoing.

Speaking to reporters in Vienna on Tuesday, Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh explained that while the two individuals that were barred from entry to Iran are no longer “designated inspectors,” other inspectors can still visit the country’s nuclear sites.

“Inspections are continuing without any interruption,” Soltanieh added.

The senior official went on to criticize the two inspectors for disclosing false information about Iran’s nuclear work to the Western media, saying that “we have to exercise extra vigilance about the performance of the inspectors to protect confidentiality of their work.”

Soltanieh made the remarks after Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi announced a decision to ban two former IAEA experts from entering the country, arguing that they disclosed false and untimely information about Iran’s nuclear activities.

The banning of the inspectors followed the passage of a US-sponsored Security Council Resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran. The United States and its allies in Europe, Canada and Australia followed through by further adopting unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The UNSC resolution was approved despite the opposition of 118 member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which backed Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Iran says it will not put a halt to its enrichment program as a result of UNSC sanction, adding that it will continue its nuclear work under IAEA’s supervision.