BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran will maintain its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its nuclear program, despite some non-constructive statements from some parties, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran on November 27, Trend reports.
According to Kanaani, Iran and the IAEA have a signed document, and they are working together within that framework. He said that Iran’s nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment at different levels, are completely peaceful and are Iran’s right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
He added that Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s supervision.
The spokesman also said that Iran has complied with all its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He rejected the claims of some countries that Iran has violated the UN Security Council Resolution No. 2231 and withdrawn from the JCPOA.
He noted that these claims are politically motivated and based on confusion between voluntary and legal obligations. Kanaani added that the JCPOA involves other members besides Iran, and they also have to fulfill their obligations. Furthermore, he said that they cannot expect Iran to fulfill its obligations and not fulfill theirs.
On March 4, 2023, a statement was signed between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency on cooperation on Iran's nuclear program.
Recently, some world media reports cited the IAEA as saying that Iran’s 60 percent enriched uranium reserves had increased from 6.7 kg to 128 kg. Iran’s nuclear program was the subject of the JCPOA, a deal signed by Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) on January 16, 2016. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed new sanctions on Iran as of November 2018.
Iran claims that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA has reported that Iran has increased its highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months and now has 4,745 kilograms of enriched uranium. This is 15 times more than the amount allowed for Iran in the JCPOA.
Iran has been trying to resume talks with the other parties on its nuclear issue and revive the JCPOA. The main goals of Iran are to end the sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, access funds frozen abroad, and resume its crude oil exports.
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