BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5. Iran's nuclear program has not deviated towards the production of nuclear weapons, said the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, Trend reports.
Speaking at a press conference today in Tehran, Baghaei stated that Iran's nuclear program operates under the strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Baghaei responded to allegations regarding the violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), emphasizing that such claims do not reflect reality. He pointed out that the IAEA has confirmed the presence of over 120 inspectors, who regularly and sometimes unexpectedly visit Iran's nuclear facilities as part of an agreed-upon program.
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.