Iran nuclear chief says IAEA inspectors expelled over ‘hostile’ behavior
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several core inspectors of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog were expelled from Iran last month for displaying “hostile political behavior,” Iran’s nuclear chief said on Wednesday, a week after he blasted Western countries for exerting pressure on the agency.
“The expelled inspectors were from the three European countries that often displayed hostile political behaviors and therefore, we removed the inspectors from those countries,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran, state media reported.
In a meeting with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi last week, Eslami said that Western governments are exploiting the agency’s capabilities to mount pressure on Tehran. His remarks came a week after the IAEA slammed Iran’s move to withdraw accreditation from several experienced agency inspectors as “disproportionate and unprecedented.”
After their licenses were withdrawn, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani warned the West to refrain from misusing the IAEA for political purposes and allow the agency to conduct its activities “impartially” and “without political pressure.”
“Making a commotion over this case is rooted in the political behavior and psychological operations of these countries,” Eslami said, blaming Western nations for “constantly” saying that Iran must implement the provisions of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal in exchange for nothing.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018, when Washington, under former US president Donald Trump’s administration, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, who in turn began stepping up its nuclear enrichment efforts.
Tehran, however, has repeatedly denied that it seeks to develop an atomic bomb, saying that such a move goes against the Islamic republic’s doctrine.
Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran is “serious” about resuming negotiations on the JCPOA if other signatories are prepared to do so, adding that Tehran is in contact with Washington to revive the agreement.
“The expelled inspectors were from the three European countries that often displayed hostile political behaviors and therefore, we removed the inspectors from those countries,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran, state media reported.
In a meeting with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi last week, Eslami said that Western governments are exploiting the agency’s capabilities to mount pressure on Tehran. His remarks came a week after the IAEA slammed Iran’s move to withdraw accreditation from several experienced agency inspectors as “disproportionate and unprecedented.”
After their licenses were withdrawn, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani warned the West to refrain from misusing the IAEA for political purposes and allow the agency to conduct its activities “impartially” and “without political pressure.”
“Making a commotion over this case is rooted in the political behavior and psychological operations of these countries,” Eslami said, blaming Western nations for “constantly” saying that Iran must implement the provisions of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal in exchange for nothing.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018, when Washington, under former US president Donald Trump’s administration, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, who in turn began stepping up its nuclear enrichment efforts.
Tehran, however, has repeatedly denied that it seeks to develop an atomic bomb, saying that such a move goes against the Islamic republic’s doctrine.
Last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran is “serious” about resuming negotiations on the JCPOA if other signatories are prepared to do so, adding that Tehran is in contact with Washington to revive the agreement.