Iran’s representative to international organizations in Vienna called on European governments to show goodwill and avoid a “provocative” and “unconstructive” approach to Iran’s nuclear issue.
Addressing a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, Mohsen Naziri Asl urged the countries of the bloc to work on a “friendly solution” for issues of common concern.
“It is a source of serious concern that despite Iran’s extensive cooperation with the agency and the considerable progress therein, the European Union, along with France, Germany and Britain, still resort to outdated tactics and play an unclean game with political motivations, targeting the current Tehran-IAEA interaction,” he said.
The remarks came following statements issues by the EU and the three European powers, known as the E3, which rebuked Iran for failing to fully meet its nuclear obligations.
They called on Iran to engage with the IAEA for the full and swift implementation of the agreement reached in March.
Tehran and the agency agreed on a joint agenda to address ambiguities over the country’s nuclear activities following the director general’s visit in March.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the Board of Governors on Monday that process of implementing the Joint Statement of March 4 has made “some progress”, but that it was a fraction of what had been envisaged.
“The EU firmly expects Iran to engage with the agency, in a sustained and uninterrupted manner, in order that all of the commitments contained in the Joint Statement are fulfilled, without further delay,” the bloc said in a statement on Tuesday.
The three European powers also regretted that implementation remains “very limited and below expectations” at this point, saying “it is of utmost importance that Iran immediately implements the Joint Statement entirely.”
Developments with regard to the March agreement included the installation of surveillance cameras at a centrifuge manufacturing workshop, according to the director general.
In addition, the IAEA has for the first time installed an enrichment monitoring device at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant as well as at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz, Grossi told the board in his introductory statement.
The agency has also been convinced by Iran’s explanations about the origin of uranium particles of nearly 84% purity detected at the Fordow facility and has no further questions on the matter at this stage.
The EU and the E3, however, played down the development, saying the circumstances of the discovery of the particles through an unannounced inspection continue to ring alarm bells.
Unreasonable Expectations
Naziri spotlighted Iran’s “constructive measures” in the course of its cooperation with the agency since March, stressing that “undue expectations of Iran are not reasonable.”
“Iran’s nuclear activities, including enrichment at all levels, are completely peaceful, in line with the rights of the Iranian nation under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and subject to the agency’s verification and monitoring as per the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement,” he said.
Despite exceeding the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran maintains that its activities remain compliant with the NPT and the safeguards.
The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, placed further limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but Iran scaled down on its commitments when the United States reimposed sweeping sanctions after its unilateral withdrawal in 2018.
In their statement, the EU and the E3 also accused Iran of “escalating its nuclear program beyond civilian justification,” claiming it has increased the risk of a nuclear proliferation crisis in the region.
They also urged Iran not only to reverse what they called alarming nuclear trajectory, but also to resume implementation of all JCPOA-related monitoring and verification measures, as well as its Additional Protocol, arguing that the agency would no longer be able to re-establish continuity of knowledge even in the event of a full JCPOA resumption.
Tehran has said it would only reverse its countermeasures once the nuclear deal is fully revived and the other parties meet their end of the bargain.
This is while talks on restoring the JCPOA, which have been underway since early 2021, are stalled over final differences and Iran remained deprived of its promise benefits.
Naziri censured the European countries for repeatedly calling on Iran to resume its JCPOA commitments without regard to all its appendices and the obligations of other parties.
“Not only do these countries intentionally confuse voluntary commitments with legal ones, but they also do their utmost to hide the fact that the JCPOA has other participants, as well as attachments that need to be implemented by them without further delay,” he said.
Iran had voluntarily agreed implement the Additional Protocol and suspended its compliance in response to the US reimposition of sanctions.
