Iran Nuclear Chief Blasts IAEA for Being Exploited By Zionists

Iran's nuclear head said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been taken captive by the Israeli regime and is being exploited.

Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), made the remarks in an interview with state television on Thursday while commenting on Iran's cooperation with the IAEA and the resolution adopted at the 35-nation board of governors meeting, PressTV reported.

“It is regrettable that an international institution has been exploited by an illegitimate regime and its reputation has been questioned,” Eslami said, referring to the Tel Aviv regime's influence on the UN nuclear agency.

Iran's nuclear agency chief said his country moved beyond its obligations within the framework of the 2015 nuclear deal — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — to show its goodwill, but the move was not reciprocated by the UN agency.

“Why did we accept [those commitments] and restrict ourselves? Only to ward off the accusations [against us], but our good faith and optimism have not been taken into consideration," he maintained.

Eslami further said that Iran has started installing new centrifuge machines at its nuclear facilities, and is not involved in any adventurous moves.

“Tehran has for the first time submitted its Country Programme Framework (CPF) to the IAEA,” Iran’s nuclear chief said.

“According to the agency's charter, the UN nuclear agency is now obliged to provide Iran with technical and educational support but the agency and other international institutions have been taken captive by the Zionists.”

CPF is a frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a member state and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals.

Stressing that Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities will continue in a technical manner and under the IAEA’s regulations, Eslami said Iran will only accept the agency’s representatives to monitor its activities within the framework of the stated regulations.

“In the last twenty years, the entire psychological operations and sanctions and resolutions were imposed on us to stop the Islamic Republic's (progress),” he noted. “Why did Iran accept the JCPOA? To build trust, and for this reason, Iran agreed to even slow down its nuclear activities.”

Eslami emphasized that Iran cannot put its trust in the US and Europe forever, but would fulfill its JCPOA obligations once the US returns to the deal which it unilaterally abandoned in May 2018.

The anti-Iran resolution, drafted by the US, Germany, France, and Britain, was adopted by late Wednesday with 30 votes in favor, two against, and three abstentions.

In his introductory remarks to the board of governors meeting last week, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the IAEA, repeated his anti-Iran rhetoric.

He alleged that since February 23, 2021, the agency's activities had been "seriously affected by Iran’s decision to stop the implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA, including the Additional Protocol.”

Grossi claimed that Tehran “has not provided explanations that are technically credible in relation to the agency’s findings at three undeclared locations in Iran.”

The trigger for the latest Western move was a report issued by the IAEA after Grossi made a whirlwind visit to Israel ahead of the Vienna meeting.

The agency has based its resolutions on Iran's nuclear activities primarily on documents supplied by Israel, which Tehran has repeatedly rejected as fake and fabricated.

In its statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry denounced the resolution as a "political, wrongful and unconstructive act" against a country that "currently has one of the most transparent peaceful nuclear programs among the IAEA members."

Grossi’s remarks came despite earlier warnings by Iran against drifting away from the agency's technical approach and adopting political stances on Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran switched off two of the IAEA surveillance cameras that it had voluntarily allowed in a "goodwill gesture.”

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the cameras functioned outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement, and the gesture was not “appreciated” by the UN agency, which saw it as Iran's “obligation.”

The spokesman of Iran's nuclear agency, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the country plans to take additional measures, after turning the cameras offline.

“Other measures are being considered and we hope that they will come to their senses and respond to Iran’s cooperation with cooperation,” he said.

The footage of the moment when the cameras were disconnected by cutting off electricity was also released by Iran's nuclear agency.

At a press briefing in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Thursday, Grossi said Iran had informed the United Nations nuclear watchdog that it was removing 27 surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities following the recent Western-drafted resolution.

Iran has on numerous occasions announced that it has no hidden or undocumented nuclear activities, and trust-building steps by Tehran have only been taken to ensure the UN nuclear watchdog and the international community of its nuclear program’s peaceful nature.