Qatar Also Urged the Islamic Republic to Cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency

The Qatari representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors emphasized the urgent need for progress, particularly in implementing the March agreement between Iran and the Agency, referencing two recent reports by the Agency's Director General regarding Iran. According to Qatar News Agency, Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hamadi called on Iranian officials on Wednesday, September 13, to create the necessary conditions for the Agency's mission in Iran through transparent interaction with the Agency and its inspectors, resolve outstanding safeguards issues, and provide necessary responses and information regarding the Agency's technical questions. The Qatari representative noted that employing diplomacy and serious cooperation between Iran and the Agency is essential for removing Iran's file from the Agency's Board of Governors and facilitating efforts to revive the JCPOA. He also praised the effective role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in implementing the three pillars of the NPT agreement and ensuring the commitment of member states to safeguards. In this statement, the Qatari representative also referred to his country's role in facilitating prisoner exchange negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and creating a communication channel to resolve other issues, expressing hope for increased understanding between Iran and the U.S. following the prisoner exchange, including the possibility of reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, the U.S. and 62 other countries, including EU member states and neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Turkey, and Yemen, issued a statement supporting Rafael Grossi's request for serious cooperation from the Islamic Republic to resolve outstanding nuclear issues with the IAEA. U.S. representative Holgate at the IAEA Board of Governors criticized the development of Iran's nuclear program beyond the framework of the nuclear agreement and urged the Islamic Republic to stop uranium enrichment at 60% purity. Rafael Grossi, the IAEA Director General, stated in his new report titled 'NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran' that unfortunately, no progress has been made in implementing the activities outlined in the joint statement signed on March 4 in Tehran, and Iran still needs to provide credible technical explanations for the presence of human-origin uranium particles in Varamin and Torqozabad and inform the Agency about the current locations of related nuclear materials or contaminated equipment. Nasser Kan'ani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, responded to the joint statement issued at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting, stating that the statement, led by the UK, Germany, France, and the U.S., criticized Iran's cooperation with the IAEA while noting that since the beginning of this year, Iran and the Agency have made significant progress in enhancing their cooperation according to the joint statement of March 2023, resulting in the resolution of several technical issues between Iran and the Agency, increased discussions and interactions, and ongoing talks about resolving other technical issues. He also claimed that the UK, Germany, France, and the U.S. have politicized Iran's technical cooperation with the Agency and, through political maneuvering at the Board of Governors under the pretext of defending the Agency and the safeguards system, are attempting to distort the facts of the Islamic Republic's sincere cooperation with the Agency. It is noteworthy that John Kirby, the National Security Council's Strategic Communications Coordinator, stated on Wednesday, September 13, in a press conference regarding the possibility of resuming nuclear agreement negotiations that President Biden has repeatedly said that we will not allow Iran to ever acquire a nuclear weapon, and we prefer to counter it through diplomacy. However, unfortunately, the previous U.S. administration decided to tear up an agreement that had effectively delayed their (Iran's) ambitions for many months, and now they have been allowed to continue enriching uranium, and for now, there is nothing we can do about it. This senior National Security Council official warned Tehran's officials, stating that we are not currently focused on returning to the JCPOA, but we will ensure that we have appropriate capabilities in the region to defend ourselves and our national security interests if necessary.