The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations said Tehran has sent a technical delegation to Vienna to answer the questions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Iran's nuclear program, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.
The announcement by the envoy, Amir Saeed Iravani, came after the IAEA published it latest report, in which it criticized Tehran for continuing to bar the agency's officials from accessing or monitoring Iranian nuclear sites.
Iravani said that the implementation of the safeguard agreements between Iran and the IAEA is not faced with any problem.
Commenting on the U.S. withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 and the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, Iravani said that Iran has been committed to its safeguard obligations, and if the other sides of the nuclear agreement "fully and effectively" fulfill their commitments, it is ready to resume complete implementation of the deal.
He urged that the IAEA's impartiality, independence, and professionalism not be compromised, stressing that the agency should remain uninfluenced by major powers and enable all countries to develop their peaceful nuclear programs.
In the IAEA report, its Director General Rafael Grossi said he is “seriously concerned” that Iran has still not engaged on the agency’s probe into man-made uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in the country.
The issue has become a key sticking point in the talks on a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Those negotiations have been on hold for several weeks and do not appear to be on track to be revived anytime soon.
Iran in September announced it had submitted its comments to the US response to the European Union’s draft for reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
While Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at the time that Iran’s response was prepared based on a constructive approach, a senior Biden administration official said the Iranian response "is not at all encouraging.”
A US official later said that the efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have “hit a wall” because of Iran's insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog's investigations.
The US Special Envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, said last week that the US is focused on matters on Iran “where we can be useful,” and is not currently going to “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)