Iran nuclear chief: Ambiguities with IAEA being resolved, inspectors visiting sites

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said those ambiguities were caused by the misunderstanding of an IAEA inspector who had earlier visited Iran.

US-based Bloomberg reported on Sunday that IAEA inspectors had found uranium enriched to a purity of 84 percent in Iran. The agency also confirmed the report.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the AEOI spokesman, however, explained that the existence of a uranium particle or particles with a purity of over 60 percent in the enrichment process does not mean that there has been enrichment at that level.

He said an issue like this was not something the agency would even report to its member states, so the fact that it has been leaked to Western media showed it was an effort towards “smearing and warping facts.”

Elsewhere, Eslami said Iran’s ties with the IAEA are on track within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement.

The nuclear chief added that Iran will work to prevent further misunderstandings through cooperation and coordination with the Agency.

He also said the root cause of the current impasse in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is the failure of the major parties, mainly the US, to honor their obligations.

Tehran, the nuclear chief added, views attempts at pressuring Iran into honoring its commitments under the nuclear deal one-sidedly as unacceptable.