Iran Urges IAEA to Respect Security Regulations about Nuclear Sites

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Seyed Abbas Mousavi said that Tehran is serious in protecting its vital nuclear sites and facilities as an inalienable right and expects the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to respect regulations it has set for safeguarding such sites.

“It is imperative for the agency’s inspectors to observe the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regulations as well as the regulations governing our important and vital facilities, because we view it as a right to protect our sensitive centers,” Mousavi noted, touching the case of a female IAEA inspector who was barred from entering the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran on October 28 after she had tested positive for suspected traces of explosive nitrates

Iran immediately reported the issue to the IAEA and accommodated it with relevant evidence too, he added, saying, “We are awaiting the agency’s response. We hope that the agency has a convincing response.”

If Tehran deems necessary and finds some inspectors, whom the country itself has allowed onto its soil, in default of its laws and regulations or the standing agreements, “It is natural [for the country] to be sensitive, and has to bar their entrance

[into its nuclear facilities]

,” the Iranian official clarified.

On November 06, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that it has not allowed an inspector of the IAEA to enter a nuclear site for carrying “suspicious” materials.

The AEOI added that the female inspector left her mission unfinished and flew out of Iran after security staff at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility didn’t let her in.

“As it is protocol, all of the IAEA inspectors’ belongings are closely inspected and scanned before they enter any of the country’s nuclear facilities,” it added.

“Upon this lady inspector’s entry, the security control machines sounded the alarm and denied her entry,” the statement said, adding then that Iran had reported the issue to the IAEA.

Iran also told the IAEA in a report that the inspector’s previous admissions at various sites were all scrapped and as a result, she decided to abort her mission and go back to the Austrian capital city of Vienna.

The report also asked the agency to help with investigations into the matter and it accepted.

“The investigations are ongoing,” the AEOI said, noting that the Iranian mission at the IAEA would present it with a comprehensive report on the matter on Thursday.

The IAEA monitors have been traveling in and out of Iran over the past months amid Tehran’s decision to cut back on its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in response to violations by the US and a lack of action to salvage the accord on part of the European signatories — the UK, France and Germany.

FNA