A week after remarks by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Western powers on the need for “transparent and full” cooperation by Tehran regarding its accelerating nuclear program, Iran sent a letter of protest against what it called “accusations” and “unreliable” information coming from Israel.
It has been more than a year since the 35-nation Board of Governors of the IAEA issued a resolution ordering Iran to cooperate with the agency’s years-long investigation into nuclear activities in undisclosed locations.
Iran did not fully comply with the agreement to reinstall IAEA cameras in some sites, and in September it denied access to a number of the agency’s senior inspectors.
Last week, Western powers refrained from issuing a resolution to condemn Tehran, under the impact of geopolitical developments taking place in the region and the approaching US elections next November, Western diplomats announced.
However, the United States last week threatened future action against Iran at the UN agency if Tehran continues to “obstruct” the agency’s work by refusing to cooperate with it and not providing answers regarding activities at undeclared sites.
In a letter in response to the demands of the IAEA and criticism from the United States and Western powers, Iran said that the “ambiguity” in the international investigation is due to “accusations that come primarily from a third party in bad faith, i.e. the Israeli regime,” adding that Israel “threatens to attack nuclear facilities designated for peaceful activities.”
The Iranian letter added that Tehran has “repeatedly announced that it does not have any location to report under the safeguards agreement.” It continued that the IAEA claims regarding undeclared sites lacked information, documents, and evidence recognized in the safeguards agreement.
The IAEA had discovered the existence of undeclared Iranian nuclear activities, after Israel obtained documents from the Iranian nuclear archive, in a very complex operation in central Tehran, in January 2018.
Iran refused to officially acknowledge the theft of its archive by Mossad agents, despite confirmation by some influential officials in Tehran of security breaches.
In its letter, Tehran said that it adheres to its commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, noting that it is “employing all its efforts to have the IAEA validate Iran’s activities, including oversight and verification procedures.”
It also accused the director of the IAEA of submitting reports that “use vocabulary that does not reflect an objective, specialized and technical interpretation, but rather is a political trend that should be avoided.”
The letter continued: “The Director-General’s reference to ‘insufficient cooperation’ completely ignores Iran’s cooperation with the Agency in various fields.”
