TEHRAN — Following the publication of an inaccurate report by the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi on Sunday, Iran’s nuclear spokesman announced on Monday that he had sent a letter to the IAEA protesting the “unconstructive” move by the Agency.

Behrouz Kamalvandi asked the IAEA not to undermine the “constructive process through purposeful and biased reports.”

Kamalvandi explained that Grossi and his colleagues are well aware that the agreement reached in the form of a joint statement in Tehran on September 12 would not include the surveillance equipment and cameras at the Karaj site as it is still under security investigation as a result of a sabotage act in June.

He said that the request to “generalize” the replacement of memory cards to the cameras at the complex was raised during the IAEA director general's visit to Tehran and also on the sidelines of the Vienna General Conference.
 
However, Kamalvandi added, the term "specified" in front of the word “equipment” was used for this purpose with the aim of excluding this complex from service.

The AEOI spokesman reminded that during the meeting in Vienna, when the director general once again requested the servicing of cameras of the Karaj site, AEOI chief Mohammad Eslami explicitly stated that for the reasons mentioned in the previous meeting, generalizing the replacement of all memory cards at the Karaj site is impossible and outside the announced framework of the joint statement.

The AEOI spokesman noted that it is necessary for the officials of this international organization not to destroy the constructive process created following the recent cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, advising the body to avoid purposeful political positions, as well as false and biased reports.

Iran and the global nuclear watchdog have found themselves in disagreement over the contents of an understanding reached earlier this month, which was part of efforts to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The Russian ambassador to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, said late on Monday that the decision by Tehran not to allow access to the facility in Karaj does not constitute a violation of the safeguards. 

“At today’s IAEA Board of Governors, I stressed that the denial of access to the facility in Karaj isn’t a violation of safeguards, just partial implementation of voluntary transparency measures by Iran. However, it’s important to find a positive solution in the interests of Iran and JCPOA,” Ulyanov tweeted.

Iran decided to restrict international inspections of its nuclear sites in 2019 after the United States withdrew from the landmark nuclear agreement a year earlier. It, however, later granted limited access to IAEA inspectors.

The IAEA said on Sunday its inspectors had been denied access to a centrifuge manufacturing site in Karaj, near the capital Tehran. Iran has boosted its nuclear activity in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the deal.

The site in Karaj was targeted by a sabotage attack in June, the third such attack on Iran’s nuclear sites since mid-2020. Iran has accused Israel of orchestrating all these attacks.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the Iranian Ambassador to IAEA Kazem Gharibabadi criticized the Agency for staying silent on the “terrorist” attacks and not issuing a statement even for the threat they posed to its own inspectors and equipment.

He also said the agreement earlier this month was for “identified equipment” and Iran informed the Agency during discussions in Tehran and Vienna that the equipment related to the Karaj site are not included since the site is still under security and judicial investigations.

“Any decision taken by Iran on monitoring equipment is only based on political rather than legal considerations and the Agency cannot and should not consider it as one of its entitlements,” Gharibabadi stated.

He also said the Agency’s latest report “isn’t accurate”.

The agreement struck in Tehran had avoided the possibility of a resolution against Iran at the Agency’s board of governors meeting earlier this month. Such a resolution could jeopardize the prospects of restoring the 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) since Tehran has said it won’t negotiate under “pressure” from the West.

SA/PA