Iran's UN Representative Responds to IAEA Report; Claims No Concealment Exists

While the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to recount concerns and unanswered questions regarding Iran's nuclear file, the Islamic Republic's representative claims that "there are no undeclared nuclear materials in Iran." Mohsen Nazari, the permanent representative of the Islamic Republic at the UN office in Vienna, stated on Saturday, June 10, in response to the recent IAEA report and reactions to it, that "all nuclear materials and activities in Iran are under the supervision and verification of the Agency, along with voluntary transparency measures and cooperation from Iran, and questioning the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program has no justification." According to Nazari, the issues raised by the Agency are "fabricated information and malice from the Israeli regime that has been presented to the Agency." The permanent representative of the Islamic Republic stated that there are no undeclared sites and that Iran's nuclear activities remain peaceful under the Agency's comprehensive safeguards, with no legal basis for the "deep concern" expressed by the Director General. The representative also claimed that "the mere existence of low uranium particles at the alleged sites cannot be considered as the presence of nuclear materials or contaminated equipment." Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, announced on Tuesday, June 5, that Iran's enriched uranium reserves have increased by more than a quarter over the past three months. Grossi told the Agency's Board of Governors that these reserves include uranium enriched up to 20 percent and over 100 kilograms of high-enriched uranium up to 60 percent. Iranian officials had ordered last year the removal of equipment that had been installed under the JCPOA for monitoring Iran's nuclear facilities. The United States, the European Union, and three European powers (France, Germany, and the UK) responded separately last Tuesday to Grossi's recent report on Iran's nuclear activities. The U.S. government stated in its announcement: "As the Director's report clearly shows, Iran continues to expand its nuclear activities far beyond the limits of the JCPOA." The U.S. once again urged Iran to end "this deeply concerning activity that contradicts the behavior of all other countries around the world." The European Union also stated in its response to Grossi's recent report that it remains "committed to the JCPOA" and expressed regret that Iran "has not taken the necessary decisions and actions" and "on the contrary, continues to significantly increase its nuclear program." The EU urged Iran to reverse its concerning nuclear path, return without further delay to its political commitments regarding nuclear non-proliferation, and resume the implementation of all monitoring and verification measures related to the JCPOA as well as its Additional Protocol. The three European powers (France, Germany, and the UK) also stated in a separate announcement, referring to the discovery of enriched uranium particles up to 7.83 percent in January, that "this enrichment was significantly inconsistent with the level declared by Iran and was an unprecedented and very serious development for which there is no credible civilian justification." The United States has repeatedly emphasized the necessity of preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons, stating that diplomacy is the U.S.'s top priority in achieving this goal, but if Iran rejects the diplomatic path, then "all options are on the table to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons." The foreign ministers of the U.S. and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries also issued a joint statement on Thursday, reiterating their support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and once again urging Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA.