‘Nothing new but word play:’ Iran dismisses latest IAEA report as political

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has slammed the latest report by the UN nuclear agency on the country’s nuclear program as politically motivated, saying it contains nothing new expect “a word play serving certain goals.”

The AEOI spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said on Thursday that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s report was “a repetition of the previous baseless issues with political purposes.”

The Iranian official said some international media are distorting and sometimes interpreting the phrases, which the IAEA deliberately uses in a vague way and are full of unnecessary details and ambiguities, to fuel a hallow media campaign aimed at insinuating that the country’s nuclear program is not peaceful.

“Iran’s peaceful nuclear program has been the most transparent so far,” Kamalvandi said.

He said Iran will accept verification of its nuclear activities beyond the Safeguards Agreement only if the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — fulfill their obligations per the agreement and lift the sanctions against Tehran.

“They should not expect Iran to be open to inspections beyond the Safeguards Agreement when they do not fulfill their obligations and while their oppressive sanctions against the Iranian nation continue,” the AEOI spokesman pointed out.

In its latest report, the IAEA said on Wednesday that Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity has grown to well above the amount that is enough for a nuclear bomb, if enriched further.

Tehran’s measures come in response to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA in 2018. Pulling out Washington from the 2015 deal, then-president Donald Trump imposed severe economic sanctions against Iran in what he called “maximum pressure policy” in a bid to reach a “better deal.”

Official: Iran produces 20-percent uranium after informing IAEA

Iran says it has enriched uranium to a purity of 20-percent, using a cascade of advanced centrifuges it launched two weeks ago.

Iran waited for a year to see if the other signatories to the deal can safeguard its economic interests. Seeing no practical measure, Iran started reducing commitments to the JCPOA in May 2019 in clear and pre-announced steps and under the supervision of the IAEA.

The Iranian Parliament also ratified a bill, obliging the government to expand the country’s nuclear activities in response to the violations committed by the American side.

Tehran also its remedial moves are in conformity with Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA and are reversible if other sides of the agreement adhere to their part of obligations.

The Austrian capital of Vienna has been hosting many rounds of talks since last year to examine the prospect of the deal’s restoration and removal of the inhumane and illegal sanctions.

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