President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran will not back off a single step from its positions after the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors passed a resolution on Wednesday criticizing Tehran for allegedly failing to explain outstanding safeguards issues.
“The Iranian nation pursues its rights in a logical manner and no one can use a language of force against it,” he said at a press briefing on Thursday, President.ir reported.
He stressed that such measures cannot block the nation’s path toward progress and bullying states must recognize the Iranian people’s rights.
Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency had agreed in March to settle safeguards issues related to uranium particles allegedly found at three undeclared sites by June.
The IAEA, however, said in a recent report that Iran had not given the agency technically credible answers, prompting the United States, Britain, France and Germany to prepare and submit a resolution to rebuke Tehran at the meeting of the 35-nation Board of Governors.
The text was passed with 30 votes in favor and three abstentions, despite opposition by China and Russia.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the move as a “political, incorrect and unconstructive” measure in a statement.
“Passing the resolution which was based on hasty and unbalanced reports of the IAEA director general and false and fabricated information provided by the Zionist regime will have no outcome but undermining the process of Iran’s cooperation with the agency,” the statement read.
Iran has devised practical reciprocal plans, including the installment of advanced centrifuges and deactivating IAEA cameras that operate beyond safeguards obligations, according to the ministry.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh censured the US and three European countries for putting their “short-sighted agenda ahead of IAEA’s credibility pushing a miscalculated & ill-advised Res. against a country w/ the world’s most transparent peaceful nuclear program.”
“The initiators are responsible for the consequences. Iran’s response is firm & proportionate,” he said in a tweet.
Reciprocal Measures
Shortly before the passing of the resolution, the IAEA told member states in a confidential report that Iran has begun installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges in a cluster at an underground enrichment plant and now intends to add two more such clusters, or cascades.
Iran also removed two IAEA surveillance cameras on Wednesday and told the agency that it planned to remove other equipment including 27 IAEA cameras as of Thursday, which is “basically all” the extra monitoring equipment that had been mounted beyond Iran’s core obligations to the agency.
Those measures mainly involve Iran’s commitments under the faltering 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
The deal has been unravelling since the United States pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to react by exceeding JCPOA limits.
Talks have been underway since April 2021 for a mutual return to compliance with the agreement, but have stalled for more than two months now over a few key remaining differences.
France, Britain and Germany condemned Iran’s actions on Thursday and urged it fully resume its cooperation with the watchdog and end its nuclear escalation.
“These actions only aggravate the situation and complicate our efforts to restore full implementation of the JCPOA. They also cast further doubt on Iran’s commitment to a successful outcome,” the so-called E3 said in a statement.
Washington issued a separate statement, stopping short of condemning Iran’s actions and urging Iran to choose diplomacy and de-escalation.
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said in a tweet that the issue is “not political”, adding that as soon as the IAEA has the technically credible information it needs, the board would see no need for further action on these issues.
“The Board spoke to Iran’s safeguard obligations, which are separate from the JCPOA. We are ready for a mutual return to full compliance immediately. Iran just needs to decide to drop its extraneous demands & agree to the deal that’s been available since March,” he said.
“Iran has a way out of the nuclear crisis it has created: cooperate with the IAEA to resolve outstanding safeguards issues & agree to return to the JCPOA, thereby addressing urgent international non-proliferation concerns & achieving US sanctions lifting. The choice is theirs.”
