IAEA chief meets Iran's top nuclear official

Iran won't accept any additional demands beyond its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, the country's top nuclear official said on Tuesday as the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog was visiting Iran. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Iran on Monday to press for access to sites where authorities are thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material. The visit comes as the U.S. is pushing to "snapback" U.N. sanctions on Iran for allegedly violating the nuclear deal with world powers, which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from two years ago. The IAEA repeatedly found Iran in compliance with the agreement until last year, when Tehran started openly exceeding some of the deal's limits on nuclear enrichment in response to heavy U.S. sanctions. Iran "won't give in to demands outside its commitments. This is for certain. We make decisions based on our national sovereignty and national interests," Ali Akbar Salehi said during a joint press conference with Grossi in Tehran. On Sunday, Iran said the IAEA was seeking access and inspection at two "places" near the capital, Tehran, and the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Last year the U.N. agency said that of the two sites that Iran has blocked access to, one was partially demolished in 2004. At the other, the agency said it observed activities "consistent with efforts to sanitize" the facility from July 2019 onward. A third site, the agency said, had undergone "extensive sanitization and leveling" in 2003 and 2004 and there would be no verification value in inspecting it. Iran has dismissed allegations of nuclear activities at the sites saying it would continue close cooperation within the legal framework of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world major powers. Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanction on Tehran.

Advertisement

IAEA chief meets Iran's top nuclear official

Iran won't accept any additional demands beyond its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, the country's top nuclear official said on Tuesday as the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog was visiting Iran.

Advertisement