TEHRAN - Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a former Iranian MP, has said that the decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors in approving an anti-Iran resolution is purely “political”.

“Undoubtedly, this action is political and the Europeans have shown they lack political independence and cannot stand against the United States,” - Boroujerdi, who chaired the Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee for successive terms, told ISNA in an interview published on Sunday.

He noted that the resolution was drafted and approved under U.S. pressure.

“Recent developments are in line with the United States’ pressure against Iran. So, Iran must adopt a more serious diplomacy,” the veteran politician noted.

The 35-member IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution on Friday demanding access to two old places it claimed nuclear work may have been done there.

China and Russia opposed the resolution and seven countries including South Africa, Niger, Mongolia, Thailand, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and India also abstained to vote.

France, Britain, and Germany, the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, submitted the draft resolution to the IAEA board on Thursday. The board did not succeed to approve the resolution on Thursday due to opposition by Iran and China. However, the resolution was ratified on Friday despite Russia and China’s opposition.

Immediately after the ratification of the resolution, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, said, “Iran categorically deplores this resolution and will take appropriate action in response, the repercussions of which would be upon the sponsors of this resolution.”

Gharibabadi also said, “Considering the extensive level of constructive cooperation between Iran and the Agency and simply overlooking this level of cooperation, adoption of this resolution aimed at requesting Iran to cooperate with the Agency is deeply disappointing.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said the three European countries signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal are absolutely powerless against the U.S. coercion.

“E3 must stop public face-saving and muster the courage to state publicly what they admit privately, their failure to fulfill even own JCPOA duties due to total impotence in resisting the US bullying behind the facade, E3 are accessories to Trump and Netanyahu—and in no position to counsel Iran,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Friday.

Experts are of the opinion that the resolution was proposed under pressure by the Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

NA/PA