Spokesman Strongly Rejects 3-Month Deadline Mentioned in IAEA Report on Iran
(FNA)- Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi blasted the International Atomic Energy Agency's Friday report for carrying some misinformation in certain parts, saying that Tehran had not accepted to fulfill all the five steps mentioned in the third phase of the joint action plan by August 25.
"We didn’t have any agreement on the August 25 date. In fact, we had undertaken to do certain things in a three-month period only with regard to the first step, although we had also stated repeatedly that we would strive to take the measures sooner than the deadline if possible," Kamalvandi said in an interview with the Islamic republic news agency's Persian service on Saturday.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran had earlier informed the IAEA that given the complicated nature of the discussed issues, the complete implementation of the 5 recently-agreed actions would not be practical by August 25 and therefore, that's why the Agency has not voiced concern about this issue (the implementation of other steps) in its report as it had already been informed," he added.
He said Iran had opposed setting deadlines for implementing the action plan since the very beginning, saying that the move could trouble the trend of cooperation. "Hence, we didn’t have any undertakings for meeting the three-month deadline; we had rather stated that we would clarify the issues as soon as possible."
The spokesman also slammed the IAEA for delaying its report and assessment over Tehran's explanations about its use of Exploding Bridge Wire (EBW) detonators.
"The Agency has presented its assessment over the EBW detonators late since this report was expected to be released in May," Kamalvandi said.
The spokesman underlined that Iran has provided the IAEA with information about the EBW detonators and their application in the oil and gas industries, and said "the civil use of such detonators has been endorsed in the IAEA's recent report as well".
"Given this report, the issue with the EBW detonators has, thus, come to its end from our view point," Kamalvandi said.
The IAEA report said Iran has implemented one of the five practical measures that it agreed with the Agency in May 2014 in the third step of the Framework for Cooperation by the agreed deadline of 25 August 2014; implemented two of the five measures after the deadline; and began discussions with the Agency on the other two practical measures.
The report said the IAEA continues its work of monitoring and verification according to Joint Plan of Action (JPA) and confirmed that there has been no diversion in Iran's nuclear activities.
According to the IAEA report, Iran has provided additional clarification about its work on so-called exploding bridge wire detonators.
The IAEA report also said that Iran is continuing to scrupulously observe the interim nuclear agreement it reached last year with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (G5+1). The interim agreement was extended in July to Nov. 24.