Iran says UN nuclear watchdog’s claim ‘not accurate’

By AFP 27 September 2021, 3:11 pm

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Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Kazem Gharibabadi, leaves the Grand Hotel Vienna, where closed-door nuclear talks took place, in Vienna, Austria, on June 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter)

Iran rejects a complaint by the UN nuclear watchdog that it was blocked from a nuclear site, arguing that the facility is exempt from a recent agreement.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said yesterday that it had been denied “indispensable” access to the TESA Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop near Tehran, contrary to a September 12 agreement with Iran.

Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Kazem Gharibabadi rejects the charge on Twitter.

“During the discussions in Tehran and Vienna, Iran indicated that… equipment related to this Complex are not included for servicing,” he writes, referring to IAEA work on its surveillance equipment.

Yesterday’s IAEA statement “isn’t accurate and goes beyond the agreed terms,” he adds.

This month’s agreement between the IAEA and Iran came days after the nuclear watchdog had decried a lack of cooperation from Tehran.

Agency inspectors have been allowed to service monitoring and surveillance equipment, and to replace storage media at “all necessary locations” except the TESA Karaj workshop, the IAEA said yesterday.