TEHRAN – Amid calls by some members of the U.S. Congress for more information to be made public on the IAEA’s role in verifying Iran’s implementation of the recently clinched nuclear agreement, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has called on the UN nuclear watchdog to maintain its independence and impartiality on the Iran nuclear case and respect Tehran’s security concerns.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the AEOI spokesman, told the IRIB News Agency on Saturday that the agency’s independence and impartiality is what matters the most to Tehran,

Kamalvandi said it is expected IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano guarantee the UN body’s independence.

Amano has agreed to travel to the United States next week to meet with members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the agency’s role in verification and monitoring of nuclear-related measures in Iran.

Kamalvandi said measures taken and remarks made by Amano play an important role in the way other countries assess the IAEA’s independence, Press TV reported.

Iran and the IAEA signed a road-map on July 14 in Vienna for “the clarification of past and present issues” regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

The spokesman said Iran has always emphasized that its concerns over confidentiality of information about its nuclear program and the agreement with the IAEA should be taken into account.

“We expect [the IAEA] to take into consideration our country’s security concerns based on the agency’s Statute and the Safeguards Agreement,” the AEOI spokesman added.

The signing of the agreement between Iran and the IAEA came on the same day that the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of an agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna.

Under the JCPOA, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a set of commitments undertaken by the 5+1 group, including for the removal of all economic and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

------- MPs urge IAEA not to disclose Iran-IAEA classified issues

Amano’s invitation to the U.S. Senate has also drawn reactions from Iranian MPs.

MP Fatollah Hosseini, a member of the Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, says any disclosure of Iran’s confidential matters by the IAEA will be a violation of the JCPOA.

Another member of the committee, Ahmad Bakhshayesh, also urged Amano to respect the confidentiality of the content of the roadmap signed between the IAEA and AEOI.

MD/P