Deal ‘meaningless’ without end of IAEA probe, Iran says
To reach an agreement, Tehran demands that the IAEA complete its investigation into traces of enriched uranium found at three undeclared sites.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran during a press conference on August 29, 2022.
AFP
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal would be “meaningless” without the closure of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) investigation into Iran’s undeclared sites, the report said on Monday. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
“We stressed in the negotiations that all issues (related to the IAEA) must be resolved,” he said at a press conference, because “without the resolution of these issues, talking about agreement no sense”. During discussions in Vienna to relaunch the so-called JCPOA pact on Iranian nuclear power, Tehran had already demanded that the IAEA complete its investigation into traces of enriched uranium found on three undeclared sites.
The UN nuclear policeman had urged Iran in June to “cooperate”, deploring the absence of “credible” answers from Tehran on the subject. Questioned last week by the American channel CNN, the director general of the IAEA Rafael Grossi had replied that he had “absolutely not” to complete the file in the current state. “This idea that politically we are going to stop doing our job is unacceptable to us,” he added.
Expanded nuclear capabilities
Iran wants this file to be settled within the framework of negotiations on the revival of the 2015 agreement, which aims to guarantee the civilian character of its nuclear program. Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) withdrew the United States from it in 2018. In response, Tehran gradually freed itself from its nuclear commitments.
Latest announcement to date, Iran has started enriching uranium in one of the cascades of advanced centrifuges recently installed in an underground part of the Natanz plant (center), according to an IAEA report transmitted Monday by Rafael Magnified to Member States.
The Islamic Republic is thus further expanding its nuclear capabilities, even as the talks in Vienna have recently intensified after several months of deadlock. The European Union had submitted on August 8 to the Iranians and the Americans a “final version” of a text providing for the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran – in particular on oil – in exchange for drastic restrictions on its nuclear program.
No meeting with Joe Biden
In this soap opera which has now been going on since April 2021, hopes of a return to the agreement have been revived in recent days when Washington said it had responded to the European proposal. Tehran replied that it would “consider the US opinion carefully” and then convey “its opinion to the coordinator” of the EU, Josep Borrell.
On Monday, Ebrahim Raïsi rejected the idea of a meeting with American President Joe Biden at the United Nations General Assembly which will open on September 13 in New York (United States). “There is no advantage in a meeting between me and him (…) There is no plan for such a meeting and there won’t be any”, launched the Iranian official.
Asked moreover about the threats of the Jewish State against the Iranian nuclear program, Ebrahim Raïsi sent a warning, affirming that the Israelis “would not have time to take action if they decided to do this kinds of things”. “Between the moment of decision-making and its implementation, they have to ask themselves if they will still exist,” he warned.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday that his army and the Mossad had “received instructions to prepare for all scenarios” to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “Nuclear weapons have no place in our defense doctrine,” reiterated Ebrahim Raïssi on Monday.
AFP
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