TEHRAN: The UN nuclear watchdog is aware of all of Iran’s activities, the head of country’s atomic energy organization said on Friday, a day after the atomic agency’s Board of Governors demanded explanation for traces of uranium at three undeclared sites.
The resolution, which was drafted on Thursday by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, said it was “essential and urgent” that Iran explain the origin of the uranium particles and more generally give the International Atomic Energy Agency all the answers it requires.
“Iran has not done and will not do anything that the agency is not aware of,” Mohammad Eslami, chief of Iran’s atomic energy organization was quoted as saying by the semi-official ILNA news agency.
“Our activities are all within the framework of regulations,” adding: “There is no problem about safeguards, which are the criterion of our cooperation.”
Resolution of the so-called “safeguards” investigations is critical to the UN agency, which seeks to ensure parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are not secretly diverting nuclear material which they could use to make a weapon.
“They have been pressuring Iran for 20 years, but negotiations have continued,” said Eslami.
In June, Iran removed IAEA monitoring equipment including surveillance cameras installed under its 2015 deal with world powers to curb its disputed uranium enrichment program.
“The political goals of the founders of this anti-Iranian resolution will not be realized but it could impact the constructive relations between Tehran and the Agency,” Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Mohsen Naziri, said on Thursday, according to Iran’s state media.
Iran’s atomic chief says IAEA aware of Tehran’s nuclear activities
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Iran’s atomic chief says IAEA aware of Tehran’s nuclear activities
- The resolution said it was “essential and urgent” that Iran explain the origin of the uranium particles
- In June, Iran removed IAEA monitoring equipment including surveillance cameras
Iran president confirms talks with US
- No official confirmation from Tehran on where the talks would be held
Iran’s president confirmed on Tuesday that he had ordered the start of talks with the US following requests “from friendly governments.”
There has been no official confirmation from Iran on where the talks would be held, but an Arab official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP a meeting was likely to take place in Turkiye on Friday, following diplomatic interventions by Ankara, as well as Egypt, Oman and Qatar.
US President Donald Trump has spoken of potential military action and sent an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following anti-government protests in Iran that were met with a deadly crackdown last month.
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On Tuesday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said diplomacy with Iran was ‘continuing very intensively,’ in ‘tandem with all our neighbors.’
Trump has maintained he is hopeful that Washington will “work something out” with Tehran, but also warned that “bad things would happen” if a deal was not agreed.
Tehran has insisted it wants diplomacy, while promising a decisive response to any aggression.
“I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations,” President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X.
He added that the talks followed requests “from friendly governments.”
On Tuesday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said diplomacy with Iran was “continuing very intensively,” in “tandem with all our neighbors.”
Earlier, a senior official from the UAE said Iran needed to reach a deal and “rebuild their relationship with the US.”
I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists to pursue fair and equitable negotiations.
President, Masoud Pezeshkian
“I would like to see direct Iranian-American negotiations leading to understandings so that we don’t have these issues every other day,” said presidential adviser Anwar Gargash.
Iran has repeatedly stressed that any talks should remain focused solely on the nuclear issue, rejecting the possibility of negotiations over its missile program or defense capabilities.
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had lost trust in Washington as a negotiating partner but a deal on the nuclear issue remained achievable.
“So I see the possibility of another talk if the US negotiation team follows what President Trump said: to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons,” he said.
Since his return to office in January last year, Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran, piling additional pain on a floundering economy.
Protests against the rising cost of living broke out in Tehran in December before evolving into wider nationwide anti-government demonstrations that triggered a deadly crackdown by the authorities.
Iranian officials have acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths during the unrest, but insist that most were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts.”
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based NGO, says it has confirmed 6,854 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, with other rights groups warning the figure is likely far higher.
On Tuesday, the NGO said it had counted at least 50,235 arrests linked to the protests, with further detentions ongoing.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the authorities had detained 139 foreign nationals in central parts of the country during the protests.
