Iran says ‘ready to cooperate’ with UN nuclear watchdog on undeclared sites

By AFP 12 September 2022, 3:00 pm

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Technicians work at the Iranian Arak heavy water reactor, 150 miles southwest of the capital Tehran, on December 23, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)

Iran reaffirms its “readiness” to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, after the agency said in a report it “cannot assure” the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear program.

The finding last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) further complicated diplomatic efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, including the United States.

Iran is “ready to cooperate with the agency to clear up the false and unrealistic perceptions regarding its peaceful nuclear activities,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani says in a press conference.

Tehran declares its “readiness to continue constructive cooperation with the IAEA”, Kanani adds, also pointing to the agency’s “obligations.”

In its report last Wednesday, the IAEA said it was “not in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”

The IAEA has been pressing Iran for answers on the previous presence of traces of nuclear material at three undeclared sites. The issue led to a resolution criticizing Iran being passed at the June meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors.