Iran’s Nuclear Moves Arranged with IAEA

Iran’s top nuclear official stressed that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities are in accordance with the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the safeguards agreements. 
“Any time Iran wants to undertake new activity, it will make arrangements with the IAEA and act based on that,” Mohammad Eslami said on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, ISNA reported. 
He made the remarks in reference to recent reports suggesting that Iran is building a new site near the Natanz facility so deep under the ground that is beyond the range of existing weapons. 
The nuclear chief did not explicitly deny or confirm the construction of the facility, but described the reports as “uncredible”, attributing them to the enemies and their psychological operations. 
“In the past courses of events, the enemies tried to place maximum pressure on the country with propaganda, but they have failed in recent months,” he said. 
This is why they have initiated new media campaigns like the previous rejected ones, he added.  
The Associated Press reported early this week that analyses of satellite photos and videos show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic program.
Tehran had earlier informed the IAEA that it intended to move its research and development machines underground, after an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz was struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. 
Iran would have to officially declare the site to the IAEA if it planned to introduce uranium into it.
Natanz has already been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges.
Iran has been exceeding limits of the 2015 nuclear deal since the United States pulled out and reimposed tough sanctions, but maintains that its nuclear activities remain in compliance with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. 
Nevertheless, it has faced accusations, chiefly sponsored by Israel and the West, about its breach of the NPT-required safeguards agreement in recent years. 

Nuclear Achievements 

Speaking a day earlier at a conference, Eslami said narrations about Iran’s nuclear activities have offered an up-side-down account of realities so far, highlighting the role of ambassadors abroad in presenting a true version of the country’s peaceful program. 
“Our country’s representatives across the world must try to familiarize the nations and governments of the world with realities of the Islamic Republic,” he said in a conference of Iranian ambassadors and representatives abroad. 
He called on the ambassadors to manage the strong front that relies on the massive power of the media through dialogue and enlightenment. 
Eslami also underlined Iran’s advancements in various nuclear fields, including the production of heavy water and radiopharmaceuticals. 
“Today, the entire cycle of producing nuclear fuel, from exploration, extraction and processing in mines to enrichment, fuel production and use in reactors in completely indigenous and carried out by our country’s young scientists,” he said. 
“These capabilities cannot be negated anymore,” he emphasized.