BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3. Iran will respond to the decision to be made at the upcoming meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors, said the country's Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, Trend reports.
According to him, Iran once again underlines that it expects International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi to take steps in line with his responsibilities. A statement based on likelihood is not part of the secretary-general's duties and does not help solve the problem.
The Spokesperson further stated that it has been repeatedly proven that Iran's nuclear program is based on international frameworks, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and is under full supervision by the IAEA.
"The IAEA monitors Iran's nuclear program with all its capabilities. Iran also highlights that some of the statements regarding its nuclear program are made based on the desires of certain Western countries," Baghaei added.
On February 14, the IAEA Director General Grossi reported that Iran is increasing the amount of uranium enriched to 60 percent by nearly seven times. In the coming weeks, Iran’s stock of 60 percent enriched uranium is expected to reach around 250 kilograms.
This amount of uranium enriched to 90 percent could be used to produce six nuclear bombs.
On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018.
By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement.
Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 20–30 percent.
Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel