Iran Deplores US Bid for IAEA Emergency Session

In a statement released on its official Twitter account on Friday, Iran’s mission to the IAEA said the Islamic Republic’s recent measures taken in regard to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have nothing to do with the IAEA’s Board of Governors.

“The Permanent Mission of the I.R. Iran was informed of the Media Note of the US mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, about requesting a special meeting of the BoG (Board of Governors) of the IAEA to discuss the IAEA DG’s latest report on the implementation of the JCPOA,” the statement said.

“It is indeed a sad irony that the same regime which materially violated the JCPOA by withdrawing illegally and unilaterally from the deal, and has been pushing others to follow suit, thereby hampering its implementation by the international community through exerting every means of coercion, is expressing concern over the mere implementation of the same deal,” it added, pointing to the US obstructive measures.

“Iran’s recent decisions, which are exercised in response to the situation caused by the US by imposing sanctions on all who want to implement their commitments to the JCPOA, tend to bring about the lost balance of the deal and are fully in line with its provisions,” it said.

“The fact that the US as the prime violator of the JCPOA has tabled this request indicates its isolation in contradicting multilateralism and rule of law in international affairs,” the statement read.

“Furthermore, the recent developments have no connection to safeguards related issues and the mandate of the Board of Governors. Issues related to the implementation of the JCPOA will be deliberated in its prescribed mechanisms,” the statement concluded.

It came after the IAEA announced it would hold an emergency meeting on Iran next Wednesday at the request of US Ambassador to International Organizations Jackie Wolcott.

According to a statement by the US mission in Vienna, the meeting requested by Wolcott is scheduled to be focused on Iran’s move to exceed the 300-kg limit of low-enriched uranium stockpiles as stipulated under the JCPOA.

On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, a 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) came into force in January 2016.

Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments under JCPOA on May 8, 2019.

Iran has also set a 60-day deadline for the remaining JCPOA parties to fulfill their undertakings.