Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Saturday that the basis for Iran’s cooperation with the Agency is the commitments already accepted by the Islamic Republic, adding that the IAEA has no access beyond these explicit commitments.
His remarks came as news about the IAEA’s inspection of one of the Iranian universities surfaced on Iranian media, which was implicitly confirmed by Minister of Science Mansour Gholami, who said that the inspection was approved by the Supreme National Security Council.
Gharibabadi went on to add that all commitments under the IAEA safeguards and Additional Protocol are the same for every country, and Iran is no exception.
“Given Iran’s voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, the country is committed to its requirements, and certain accesses are made within this framework and according to decisions made at high levels of the Establishment,” he said.
The Iranian envoy stressed that, with respect to redlines drawn by the Leader, no permit has ever been issued to allow IAEA’s inspectors to interview the country’s scientists, adding that the Agency itself has not made such a request so far, “because it is fully aware of Iran’s response.”
He went on to add that the IAEA’s inspection of a university does not mean the need to stop or shut down a certain activity, adding “this only means that the country’s activities must be reported to the IAEA based on its commitments.”
Gharibabadi further stressed that the implementation of Iran’s commitments in any areas will continue as long as the country has not withdrawn from the said commitments.
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