Spokesman Slams IAEA’s Political Accusations against Iran

In an interview with Press TV, Behrouz Kamalvandi said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publicizes confidential reports about Iran’s nuclear activities even before the investigations are complete in order to prepare the ground for fabrications against the country’s peaceful atomic energy program.

After the recent inspection of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) in January, the UN agency claimed Iran has made an “undeclared change” to the interconnection between the two clusters of advanced machines enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity at the plant.

Soon afterward, a joint statement by the United States, Britain, France and Germany accused Iran of being “inconsistent in meeting its nuclear obligations.”

Dismissing the sweeping claims, Kamalvandi said Iran has only changed modes of enrichment, not “unannounced changes to the design information questionnaire” (DIQ) as stated by the IAEA.

“The inspector came and pointed out that the mode has changed, he was right, the mode had changed, but DIQ had not changed,” he said in the interview.

Kamalvandi added that after the agency was informed of the inspector’s “mistake,” he came back for another inspection and confirmed that Iran had not made any changes to the DIQ, the mode that has been changed was mentioned in the DIQ submitted to the agency.

“I think the reaction of the agency was deliberate… it seems to me that the agency did not immediately accept our argument based on some political benefits,” he asserted.

“(The agency) submitted a report against us, and unfortunately, immediately after that, the three European countries and the United States made a statement against Iran.”

Kamalvandi slammed the statement by the US and its European allies as a “premeditated” move.

“When a statement is issued against Iran at this speed, it shows that the action taken was a premeditated one. Of course, they are a bit impulsive in this show,… they didn’t even bother to wait at least two or three days so that their show looks a little bit more real.

“The reports are indeed technical, but their purpose is political,… these issues should be discussed between us and the agency, other parties should not be present. The agency should not report [them] until the investigation is complete,” he said.

Commenting on the recent Bloomberg report that claimed the IAEA “is trying to clarify how Iran accumulated uranium enriched to 84 percent purity,” Iran’s nuclear agency spokesman said finding highly-enriched uranium particles in the pipes connecting centrifuges was a “normal issue.”

“For example, we are producing 5 percent enriched (uranium), 11 percent particle is seen in it, or we are producing 20 percent (enriched uranium), 47 percent particle is seen in it. We had several correspondences about this in the past… it’s a natural thing in enrichment,” he explained.

“The machine is spinning fast. If the amount of the feed decreases for a moment, the enrichment will increase by a few percent; but it doesn’t matter because the end product is what matters.”

Kamalvandi stated that If Iran “wants” to produce highly-enriched uranium, it will announce it to the UN agency, but so far it has not felt the need to produce more enriched uranium.

“So, it is clear that there is a conspiracy here,” he noted, referring to the confidential reports being leaked to Western media and distortions made about the IAEA inspections and subsequent findings.

He criticized the IAEA for allowing the correspondence between Tehran and the agency to leak to the press, holding the agency “100 percent guilty” in the case.

“There was a confidential letter between us and the agency, a question was raised, and we answered. Their question is broadcast in the media, but our answer is not…the goal is to create space for those who want to accuse Iran…of violating its commitment and not respecting safeguards.”

Kamalvandi said Iran has still consistently “complied” with the safeguards, adding that “15 reports of the agency itself are proof of our honesty and that Iran has fully fulfilled its obligations.”

“There is no logical reason for the action of the agency unless there is a political purpose behind this case which aims at distorting the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he remarked.