All Nuclear Activities in Compliance With NPT, Safeguards Agreement

Iran underlined that all its nuclear activities are in compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Safeguards Agreement of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the country’s top nuclear chief said. 
“The agency is present and monitors all our processes as per the safeguards,” head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, told reporters on the sidelines of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, ISNA reported. 
He made the remarks in response to the IAEA chief’s recent call on Iran to be “transparent and compliant” and work with the agency. 
Rafael Grossi said Iran has a “very ambitious nuclear program” that needs to be verified in the appropriate way.
“The program is moving ahead very, very fast and not only ahead, but sideways as well, because it’s growing in ambition and in capacity.”
Iran has been increasing its nuclear activity beyond the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal which were imposed in return for the lifting of international sanctions, but remains committed to its NPT-required obligations. 
The measures come in reaction to the United States’ reimposition of sweeping sanctions following its 2018 withdrawal from the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“We engaged in negotiations to build trust so that accusations [regarding the nature of Iran’s nuclear activities] would be put aside, and we agreed to restrictions and intensified inspections [in 2015] along this line,” Eslami said. 
He regretted that the other sides failed to fulfil their commitments and are not only imposing further pressure each day, but are also repeating those accusations in a more amplified manner. 
Negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna have so far failed to resurrect the 2015 deal, although a new initiative put forward by the European Union has boosted hopes for its revival. 

Semi-Abrogates Agreement

Iran’s countermeasures included enrichment in excess of JCPOA caps and curbs on cooperation with the IAEA as required by the very agreement. 
They are adopted in accordance with a parliamentary strategic action plan for the removal of sanctions which requires further nuclear steps until the Iran’s economic benefits under the JCPOA are restored. 
Most recently, Iran launched new centrifuges in response to US sanctions on foreign firms that were purportedly engaged in the sale of Iranian oil. 
In reaction to these sanctions, Iran began feeding gas into advanced centrifuges “to show that our will is strong,” according to Eslami.
“To have the sanctions revoked, we will not spare any effort in line with the interests of the Iranian nation,” he said. 
Earlier in June, Iran removed almost all IAEA surveillance cameras that operated beyond the safeguards after the agency’s Board of Governors passed a resolution that rebuked Iran for failure to provide credible answers about uranium particles allegedly found on several undeclared sites. 
Grossi said in his recent remarks that “if we are to offer credible assurances that Iran’s sizable and growing nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, Iran must grant IAEA inspectors access commensurate to the size of that program and provide us complete information.”
Eslami stressed that all operations in various sectors which involve nuclear material are under the supervision of the agency and will remain so. 
He noted that the removed cameras had all been installed under the JCPOA and beyond the safeguards’ obligations. 
“When the other party is not present in the JCPOA and does not fulfill its commitments, there is no reason for us to continue adherence to a semi-abrogated agreement one-sidedly,” he said. 
So long as the other parties do not return to their commitments and put aside their false accusations, no camera will be installed, he added.