TEHRAN — The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Wednesday strongly criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its politically biased report.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines cabinet meeting, Mohammad Eslami said the recent action of three European countries (France, UK, and Germany) and the United States, which drafted a resolution to be submitted in the Board of Governors, is a “political move” and is in line with the policy of “maximum pressure”, which is supported and led by the Israeli regime.

He added, “The accusations and allegations that have been made now have been attributed to us for 20 years, and the basis of the JCPOA is to eliminate these accusations. If the Islamic Republic accepts to negotiate the JCPOA, it is because of the allegations and trust-building. All of these claims have been closed in the form of PMD, i.e. they have been negotiated, visited and the case has been closed.”

Eslami reminded that an agreement has been reached for which the parties had obligations. 

“They should have lifted sanctions and provided cooperation and facilities for the development of the country's nuclear industry, and the Islamic Republic has agreed to limit its nuclear program over a period of time in order to build trust,” the nuclear chief stated. 

Eslami also reiterated that Iran and the IAEA have now returned to the starting point, as the same claims have been raised again.

“The Islamic Republic has been negotiating for months and the text of the agreement is technically finished and the issues related to sanctions are being discussed. Again, the Zionist regime is threatening the country with terrorist operations, destructive operations, psychological war, and exaggerating in the form of repetitive threats that if diplomacy does not stop Iran's nuclear program, we will stop it ourselves. Is it the law of jungle?”

Emphasizing that Iran has no hidden and unwritten nuclear activities, he stated that the Iranian people should know that these are inductions that the IAEA repeatedly makes in the media under the influence of the Israelis and the Westerners. 

“There is no unannounced site or no unannounced activities. No. It simply does not exist. The cases that are in the form of these so-called alleged documents are presented in the form of four sites. They came and went and inspected these four sites and closed the case of one of these four sites,” the nuclear chief explained. 

He stressed that Iran works “exactly” according to the rules and regulations of the IAEA and there is no AEOI activity that is not under the supervision of the IAEA and has not followed the procedures of the IAEA. 

“We do not accept these accusations, nor do we retreat with this heavy psychological operation. We have a remnant of good faith in the JCPOA that if they do not want to fulfill their obligations, we will definitely reconsider that remnant of our good faith,” Eslami cautioned. 

He then concluded his remarks by saying that the industrial flow of “our production is going on and we do not act under the influence of emotions. We have a plan, and the Majlis Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions’ bill defines tasks for us that we carry out and oversee.”

AEOI spokesman: Turning off cameras beginning of the saga

In response to the IAEA Board of Governors’ move in seeking to approve a resolution against Iran, on Wednesday Iran turned off two IAEA surveillance cameras at a nuclear facility. These cameras were beyond the Safeguards agreement. 

“Today an announcement was issued by the Atomic Energy Organization (of Iran) in commensurate with our extensive cooperation with the Agency. Unfortunately, the behavior of the International Atomic Energy Agency was not suitable for this cooperation,” AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told the national TV on the sidelines of the extraordinary meeting of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the parliament on Wednesday. 

On the other hand, he added, Western countries, especially the European trio (Germany, Britain and France) and the United States, have started acting against Iran.

“Hence, it was decided to stop some of the beyond-Safeguards cooperation, which was not part of our obligations and was done in good faith. For example, recording some activities by the agency's cameras which recorded OLEM surface flow measuring device and the IAEA’s flowmeter in Iran.”

Kamalvandi said relevant officials ordered them to stop the operation of these cameras, although the information of these cameras was not supposed to be given to the IAEA unless the conditions of Iran were accepted. 

The basis of this work is based on the Parliament’s Law on Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian People.

He continued, “We did not give them the information and this information will not be recorded from today. I was at one of these sites today and closely monitored the shutdown of these cameras. Let the people know that this practical action has been taken and other actions are being considered. We hope that they will come to their senses and respond to Iran's cooperation with cooperation. Iran cannot cooperate but be shown inappropriate behavior on the other hand.”

The AEOI spokesman said that 80% of the Agency's existing cameras are recording Iran’s nuclear activities within the Safeguards. He then reiterated Iran’s commitment to the Safeguards agreement, saying that those cameras are still working. 

“The cameras that are to be shut down are beyond-Safeguards cameras that recorded information that can later be used by the Agency. We will no longer provide this information to the Agency. We hope that with these measures, they will come to their senses and change their method and attitude. With this approach, they cannot expect the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate widely in the face of their lack of cooperation and ill-intentioned wills,” the senior nuclear official noted. 

Referring to previous meetings with the IAEA, he said that the IAEA director general's report did not reflect Iran’s cooperation and goodwill, and “we hope they will change their approach.”