Iran Press/ Europe: Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently made anti-Iranian claims, claiming that Tehran had refused to grant access to the two nuclear sites.
Kazem Gharibiabadi, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on Thursday over the IAEA Director General's report on Iran and NPT via video conference said: "Iran acknowledges the IAEA's right for asking legitimate questions, seeking transparency or demand of access for its mission; meanwhile Iran also emphasizes its right as a member state to request that the IAEA provide solid evidence and supporting documents and arguments in this regard.
Gharibabadi stated that any information allegedly obtained through so-called covert operations or intelligence activities, and any subsequent use of it as a basis for requests is not in accordance with the Agency's statutes; therefore, these kinds of information should not have any place in the process of truth-seeking, monitoring and verification activities. Naturally, they do not make any commitments for Iran in this regard.
The representative of Iran emphasized that the implementation of truth-seeking activities requires cooperation with the good intentions of both parties, and said: "Iran strongly urges the Secretariat and members of the International Atomic Energy Agency to be vigilant in dealing with this issue and to refrain from entering into hasty procedures and approaches."
Gharibiabadi referring to the fact that Iran alone, with 432 inspections in 2019, has received more than 20% of the total inspections of the IAEA globally, emphasized: "Any political approach or decision through the misuse of the Board of Governors will certainly undermine the current level of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences."
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