IAEA Board Resolution Won’t Help Address Outstanding Issues

A resolution against Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors is an unconstructive measure to preserve the maximum pressure policy and will not help its sponsors to address the current outstanding issues, Iran’s top nuclear officials said. 
“It seems that the three European countries and the United States are accustomed to using various methods of pressure, such as issuing resolutions and imposing sanctions, but it is obvious that such pressures will be without outcome,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on the sidelines of an event in Isfahan Province, IRNA reported. 
The global nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday, ordering Iran to cooperate urgently with the agency’s investigation into uranium traces allegedly found at three undeclared sites. 
The resolution, drafted by the US, Britain, France and Germany, was adopted with 26 votes in favor, five abstentions and two countries absent, while Russia and China voted against.
It says “it is essential and urgent” that Iran explain the origin of the uranium particles and more generally give the IAEA all the answers it requires.
Iran had earlier provided explanations which were dismissed by the director general as “not credible”, paving the way for the passing of a resolution by the board in June. 
At the time, the Islamic Republic denounced the motion as “political” and responded to it by removing surveillance cameras and other equipment from its nuclear facilities.
The new resolution, however, has stronger wording and hints at a future diplomatic escalation.
“The wrong move of adopting a resolution against our country, as said earlier, will face a strong response by Iran,” Eslami said without elaborating. 
Iran’s permanent representative at the United Nations office in Vienna, Mohsen Naziri-Asl, had earlier said the resolution could impact the course of Iran’s constructive interaction with the agency, which could refer to possible decisions to further restrict IAEA monitoring and verification. 

Welfare and Progress 

Eslami added that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is being carried out as per the “strategic action plan” passed by the parliament, and such resolutions will not impair their advancement. 
“All programs carried out by us [the AEOI] at national level are targeted at the Iranian nation’s welfare and progress,” he said. 
The Majlis passed a law in December 2020, instructing the government to take further reciprocal steps beyond the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The JCPOA offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but the US pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Iran to row back on its commitments in response.
The parliamentary law outlines a roadmap for countermeasures until the sanctions are removed. 
Negotiations began in Vienna, Austria, in April 2021 to work out how both Tehran and Washington can resume compliance with the JCPOA, but the talks have been stalled for months over final differences, including the safeguards issue. 
Tehran argues that the safeguards questions are based on fabricated data and therefore invalid, and have demanded the closure of the IAEA probe before any deal is signed on the revival of the JCPOA. 
The recent resolution is also seen as a means of pressure to force Iran to drop the demand, which it refuses, maintaining that the issue is among the Islamic Republic’s red lines. 
Naziri-Asl had also censured the four sponsors of the resolution for their all-out efforts to question Iran’s constant interaction with the agency so as to raise doubts as to the prospects of reaching an agreement on the revival to the JCPOA.