Iran: IAEA realizes nuclear pledges will not be same as before aggression

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that his country believes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reached the conclusion that the method and mechanism for implementing Iran’s nuclear commitments (safeguards) can no longer be the same as they were before the Zionist-American aggression.

Commenting on the report of the IAEA and its Director General Rafael Grossi, Baghaei added in his weekly press conference: “We have studied the report and will formally convey our positions to the agency and the Board of Governors. We expected a fair report that would take into account the reality on the ground and the attack on our nuclear facilities, an attack that the agency should have addressed in detail to prevent its recurrence in the future.”

He continued: “Our conclusion is that the agency has come to realize that implementation of Iran’s nuclear commitments cannot continue as it was before the attack. This is a unique incident, and there are no specific monitoring protocols in such circumstances. The agency now understands the need to take Iran’s perspective into account.”

Baghaei emphasized that “this issue was discussed in three rounds of negotiations in Tehran and Vienna. We have not yet reached a final agreement, but the course of the talks has been positive. Our negotiators took into account the facts on the ground, the parliament’s law, and the vision of the Supreme National Security Council. We are awaiting the completion of the text for the new formula for cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.”

He continued: “Last May, documents related to the IAEA’s arrival in Vienna were transferred, which was in violation of protocol, and the IAEA acknowledged that this should not have happened.”