Atomic Energy Organization's Strong Reaction to Fereydoun Abbasi's Criticism of JCPOA

On Thursday, July 24, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued a statement in response to recent remarks by Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of the organization during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, calling his statements "baseless and unjust" and leaving the judgment to public conscience and the people. The statement, published on the Atomic Energy Organization's website, addressed Abbasi directly, stating: "In response to these unjust remarks, we return your words to you so that your conscience, and of course the public conscience and the people, can judge. Although public conscience responded to you just a few months ago during the parliamentary elections." Fereydoun Abbasi, in an interview with Rajanews on July 23, criticized the government's performance and the Iranian nuclear negotiation team severely on the anniversary of the JCPOA. He accused the government of "concealing" real information and described the involvement of Ayatollah Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council in the JCPOA as "good," saying: "As soon as they got involved, a consensus was created in the country to allow the government to go and execute this erroneous action it has pursued." The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran considered Abbasi's remarks as an "accusation against the country's senior officials and authorities that they have issued permission for erroneous actions." Abbasi also accused Rouhani's government of acting "tribally" regarding the JCPOA, stating: "If it were not for tribal behavior, the JCPOA would not have been imposed on our country in this way, with insults to critics and intimidation and threats to implement the JCPOA in society." He further accused those he claimed played a significant role in "JCPOA-izing" society of providing "false information" to parliament members and lying to establish the JCPOA in society. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran responded to Abbasi, stating: "Without realizing it, you accuse the people of ignorance and stupidity and of voting for this group." Abbasi stated that "we should not allow these individuals to change their colors and now take an anti-American stance. They themselves went into the embrace of America and accepted these issues and are not qualified to come and criticize the JCPOA in the current situation." He emphasized the need to remove these individuals from the political scene of the country. The Atomic Energy Organization described Abbasi's statements as "unjust and unsubstantiated" and noted that these accusations are nothing but "confused speech resulting from political fever." The statement continued: "Why do you see it as a loss now that the country has managed to sell its heavy water to advanced world markets, even if you think it is by necessity? Would you prefer to store dozens or even hundreds of tons of heavy water that is currently not needed by the country in tanks and deprive the country of valuable markets for this strategic commodity, which it needs for continued production, due to a love for isolation?" Abbasi criticized the sale of Iran's heavy water to the West, stating that instead of exporting heavy water, we could have used this "strategic material" to negotiate politically. The Atomic Energy Organization also criticized Abbasi's comments regarding uranium procurement, stating: "You think solving the raw material problem is very simple and cite France as an example, but you are unaware that if you do not engage with the world and are trapped under sanctions, you cannot rely on the resources of other countries like France." Abbasi compared Iran's uranium resource limitations with those of France and China, stating that these two countries obtain their uranium from African countries, Kazakhstan, Australia, or elsewhere, and thus, according to him, Iran could also procure uranium from some countries in exchange for selling oil. The Atomic Energy Organization, while expressing readiness to accept "constructive" criticisms and suggestions, advised Abbasi to observe ethics and fairness in expressing criticisms and to avoid malice, hatred, enmity, and jealousy. Fereydoun Abbasi holds a PhD in nuclear physics and served as the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran for three years (from 2010 to 2013) during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the JCPOA, was signed on July 23 last year between Iran and the P5+1 group and was implemented in January. Under this agreement, it was decided that in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, Iran would limit its nuclear activities. The comprehensive nuclear agreement has staunch critics in both Iran and the United States.