Sponsors of Anti-Iran Resolution at IAEA Must Account for Consequences

Western countries who are pushing for a resolution against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency will be responsible for all possible consequences, Iran’s top diplomat said. 
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on Twitter in reference to the recent draft resolution prepared by France, Germany, Britain and the United States for the current quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors to rebuke Iran for failing to adequately answer longstanding questions on uranium traces allegedly found at three undeclared sites. 
Tehran and the agency had agreed in March to settle this case by the June board meeting, but the IAEA told member states last week that Iran had not given it credible answers on the claimed particles.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in his introductory statement to the Board of Governors on Monday that the agency cannot confirm the correctness and completeness of Iran’s declarations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement unless and until Iran provides technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at the three sites and informs the agency of all current locations of the nuclear material and/or of the contaminated equipment.
“Therefore, the safeguards issues related to these three locations remain outstanding.”
Iranian officials said the report was “one-sided” and failed to reflect Iran’s extensive cooperation, unfairly calling its arguments invalid. 
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that the report is not accurate and disregards all the technical and precise responses Iran has provided. 
“The report tries to promote an implausible description about Iran’s nuclear program, most of which is based on mere claims,” he said, adding that there are obviously traces of the Israeli regime’s manipulation in the report.
He stressed that Iran acknowledges neither this report, nor the move by the three European countries and the US for the adoption of a resolution against Iran.
“We do not wish to prejudge, but will certainly have our responses in proportion with what happens [at the board meeting],” he said on state television, according to ISNA. 
Western countries had held off submitting a draft resolution to previous quarterly meetings of the IAEA Board of Governors, but intend to put up the censure motion against Iran following the recent report. 
Amir-Abdollahian had earlier described the move as “hasty and unconstructive,” adding that it is against diplomatic procedures. 
“Any political action by the United States and the three European countries in the IAEA will undoubtedly be met with a proportionate, effective and immediate response from Iran,” he had warned. 

Negative Effect 

The adoption of any such resolution could damage prospects for rescuing the already stalled negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which has been underway in Vienna, Austria, for a year. 
The US quit the agreement in 2018 and Iran scaled down its commitments in response to tough sanctions reimposed by Washington. 
The Vienna talks aim to work out how both countries resume compliance with the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but have been paused since March. 
Khatibzadeh said a possible resolution could negatively affect not only Iran’s general cooperation with the agency, but also the process of talks on JCPOA revival. 
“We have called on board members to beware of the intentions of the Zionist regime and sponsors of this resolution and cast a no vote so that the window of opportunity that Iran has opened for diplomacy would remain open,” he said. 
China has also cautioned that being confrontational at the IAEA Board of Governors will only undermine the agency’s cooperation with Iran and disrupt the negotiation process.
Amir-Abdollahian reiterated in his tweet that Tehran welcomes a good, strong and lasting agreement, adding “it’s within reach if US/E3 are realistic.”