The Iranian authorities decided to withdraw approval from a number of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.
This was stated by the agency’s director, Rafael Grossi, in a statement.
The inspectors involved are said to be among the most experienced in the agency. As a result, Iranian authorities recently removed about a third of the IAEA inspectors responsible for Iran from their posts.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency condemns the decision and asks the Iranian regime to reconsider it. He says it affects the agency’s ability to do its work in Iran, and describes it as “dangerous.”
– This decision is another step in the wrong direction, and an unnecessary setback to the already tense relationship between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran, Grossi says.
Uranium enrichment
In the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, Iran committed to significantly limiting uranium enrichment and allowing widespread inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
After then-US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, the country responded, among other things, by increasing uranium enrichment. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, since April 2021, the country has also produced highly enriched uranium.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and denies that it is developing nuclear weapons or has any desire to do so. The IAEA also found no signs of such an active nuclear weapons program in Iran.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a statement after the statements of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency that the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom had politicized the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in the direction of the special interests of the four countries.
– International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Tehran will continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
European Union countries will maintain sanctions
In exchange for international transparency and strict restrictions on its nuclear program, many sanctions on Iran were lifted, but Trump reimposed harsh sanctions.
Under the agreement concluded in 2015, many sanctions will be lifted in October this year. But the European Union foreign minister said on Thursday that Germany, France and Britain wanted to maintain current sanctions against Iran related to the nuclear programme. The background is that Iran is not meeting the demands it previously agreed upon, according to Borrell.
The European Union will now begin consultations with Iran, China and Russia on the way forward, according to Borrell.
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