Envoy welcomes IAEA report as positive step in bilateral ties

“The report is important in two aspects,” Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters on Friday. “In terms of shape, the report discusses the developments and progress made in the relation and cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Agency in the last three months.”

Gharibabadi said the report shows that a constructive interaction exists between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog to reach a mutual understanding and find a solution for the issues raised, IRNA reported.

Such constructive interaction is expected to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of IAEA member states and the Board of Governors, the ambassador added.

The report referred to a trip by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to Tehran on August 24 and 25 and his talks with senior Iranian officials, which led to a joint statement aimed at strengthening cooperation and building more confidence, Gharibabadi remarked.

“Based on the report, the Agency has been granted access to one of the two demanded sites and the access to the second site has been planned for this month,” he added.

On August 26, at the end of Grossi’s visit to Tehran, Iran and the IAEA issued a joint statement on agreements and the results of high-level talks between the two sides.

According to the statement, the IAEA and Iran “agreed to further reinforce their cooperation and enhance mutual trust” to facilitate the full implementation of Iran’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) and the Additional Protocol (AP) thereto, which is provisionally applied by Iran since January 16, 2016.

“After intensive bilateral consultations, Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement on the resolution of the safeguards implementation issues specified by the IAEA, in good faith. In this regard, Iran is voluntarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations specified by the IAEA and facilitating the IAEA verification activities to resolve these issues,” the statement said.

In its quarterly report on Friday, the IAEA announced that Iran has granted the agency’s inspectors access to one of the two sites it agreed the previous week for verification purposes.

The report added that the IAEA inspected the sites and took environmental samples there while the agency’s inspectors would visit the other site “later in September 2020 on a date already agreed with Iran, to take environmental samples.”

Source: Tehran Times