Salehi: They Endanger the Lives of 80 Million to Claim They Are Brave

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, reacted to the statements of Saeed Jalili, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, saying those who claim they secured Iran's right to enrichment must provide evidence. Salehi made these remarks on Tuesday, September 7, during a special commission reviewing the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) in Parliament. Jalili, who opposes the Vienna nuclear agreement, had stated a day earlier in the same commission that Iran had relinquished 100 of its legitimate rights in the agreement with six world powers, adding that the 5+1 group recognized Iran's enrichment rights during his tenure. Hussein Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesman for the JCPOA review commission, told the House of Parliament news agency that Salehi emphasized that the Americans never recognized Iran's enrichment rights until the Muscat negotiations. Salehi became the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization in 2009 after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection and served as foreign minister in 2010. He was removed from the foreign ministry when Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013 and returned as head of the Atomic Energy Organization. Reflecting on Salehi's comments in the Saturday edition of Shargh newspaper, he continued in the special commission that when he went to the foreign ministry, given the good relations between Oman and Iran, Sultan Qaboos offered to mediate between Iran and the U.S. The foreign ministry also informed the Americans in a note that if they were willing to recognize Iran's nuclear rights and lift sanctions, Iran was ready to negotiate. This topic began in mid-2011 with the knowledge of senior officials and the first meeting was held in spring 2012 in Muscat. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization added that in the second meeting in Esfand of that year, the Americans said they were ready to recognize Iran's enrichment rights. After that, a new government came in and continued the negotiations. Salehi emphasized, 'They did not accept enrichment at Almaty and Istanbul at all. If they say the 5+1 recognized enrichment, they should bring evidence. The only thing the 5+1 said was that they recognize your peaceful nuclear rights.' Meanwhile, the newspapers 'Etemad', 'Aftab Yazd', and 'Shargh' published other parts of Salehi's statements in the special commission on Saturday, September 21, where he said, 'There may be a brave person who goes to put the core of the Arak reactor back in place and lives there with his family, but what then? Is bravery about these issues? They want to endanger 80 million people just to say they are brave. Nuclear safety issues are different from safety in Iran Khodro. If something happens in Iran Khodro, it affects only that area. You have seen incidents like Chernobyl...' Saeed Jalili was appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2007 after Ali Larijani resigned from the National Security Council and remained in that position until 2013, also leading Iran's nuclear negotiating team for six years. Hamid Baidi Nejad, a member of Iran's nuclear team, noted that Jalili could not even reach the negotiation stage with world powers. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator during Hassan Rouhani's administration, also emphasized this point on September 5 in the special commission. According to Tasnim News Agency, Araghchi stated, 'The issue of enrichment rights was never recognized in the 5+1 and was never mentioned. The agreement for continued enrichment was first established in the Oman negotiations. However, both the Americans and the 5+1 have always recognized the right to utilize peaceful nuclear energy and have always stated so.'