Monitoring Iran nuclear industry capacity Grossi’s visit goal

“The issue is monitoring the performance and status and capacity of Iran’s nuclear industry, which the Security Council has given the Agency according to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” Mohammad Eslami said on Saturday referring to a visit of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Tehran.

“Due to the fact that the parties [to the JCPOA] did not fulfill their commitments and even prevented the cooperation of countries and other companies with Iran and increased the sanctions [against the country], Iran decided to reduce its commitments according to the Iranian parliament’s law ‘The Strategic Action to Remove the Sanctions and Protect the Nation’s Rights’,” he added.

The IAEA chief and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) have held crucial discussions in Tehran.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s Chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Tehran on Friday to hold talks with senior Iranian officials with technical nuclear issues high on the agenda.

Grossi was greeted at the airport by Behrouz Kamalvandi, the AEOI spokesman, upon his arrival and rushed to meet the Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami.

The IAEA chief is also due to hold talks with President Ebrahim Raeisi during his two-day visit.

Details of their discussion were not immediately available. This is Grossi’s fourth visit to Iran since assuming office in December 2019 and comes ahead of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on Monday.

Iran and the IAEA are at odds over several issues concerning the country’s nuclear activities. The UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential quarterly report that it had detected particles of uranium enriched to 83.7 percent during an inspection of the Fordow nuclear facility on January 22.

On Wednesday, Eslami rejected the accusation, asserting that there has been “no deviation” in Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

“Regarding the 84% particle, which was a sample from the side of a tap in the process, the particle cannot be even seen with a microscope. What is important is the amount of material that is stored after production,” the AEOI said.

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