AEOI official urges IAEA to be ‘impartial’

Kamalvandi’s remarks came in response to the news on the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano's scheduled visit to Washington on Wednesday.

“Regardless of the IAEA chief’s decision to visit which country, what matters to us is the independent and impartial nature of the agency, and Amano is expected to guarantee this independence and impartiality of the IAEA,” said Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi on Saturday.

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations invited Amano to visit Washington to brief the Senate on Iran’s nuclear deal; Amano has agreed to the Aug. 5 session and will be visiting the US on Wednesday.

The director general’s visit to Washington comes amid Tehran’s concerns about the confidentiality of the recent agreement signed between Iran and the agency.

“Our emphasis during all of our sessions with the IAEA is that the agency considers our concerns regarding the confidentiality of the information and the agreements reached with this international entity,” said Kamalvandi.

Iran and the IAEA recently signed a roadmap in the Austrian capital of Vienna for the clarification of past and present issues regarding Iran's nuclear program by mid-December.

“Under the agreement, the IAEA is to raise all its questions in a short span of time and receive answers from Iran. In fact, one of the most important features of the agreement signed in Vienna is its article 10 which compels the two sides to a specific time period. As such, the agency has agreed to an Aug. 15 deadline to ask its questions and to finish its investigation of the past issues [regarding Iran's nuclear program] by Dec. 15,” said Kamalvandi.  

On Saturday, Iran’s ambassador and permanent envoy to the IAEA Reza Najafi urged International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refrain from leaking confidential information on the recent agreement between Iran and UN nuclear organization.

He maintained that the provisions of a deal to which the IAEA and a second country are parties are confidential and should not be divulged to any third country.