TEHRAN — The
Iranian president said Monday
that reviving a 2015 atomic deal with world powers would be pointless unless
the UN nuclear watchdog put an end to its probe of undeclared sites in the
country.
اضافة اعلان
Ebrahim Raisi’s comments came as Tehran reviews the
US response to its suggestions on a “final” text put forward by the EU to
salvage the landmark deal.
The US had been adamant that Tehran cooperate with
the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clear up suspicions about
earlier work at three undeclared sites.
“In the negotiations, safeguard issues are one of
the fundamental ones. All of the safeguard issues must be resolved,” Raisi told
reporters at a news conference in the capital Tehran.
“Without resolving the safeguard issues, talking
about the agreement is meaningless,” he added.
The IAEA has referred to the traces of nuclear
materials as a “safeguards” issue.
Iran has repeatedly urged the agency to end the
issue before any revived deal is implemented, but US State Department spokesman
Vedant Patel on Thursday said “we do not believe there should be any
conditionality” between the deal and undeclared sites.
In June, the IAEA’s board of governors adopted a
resolution censuring Iran for failing to adequately explain the previous
discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites not declared by Tehran
as having hosted nuclear activities.
Last week, amid rising hopes of a revived deal, IAEA
chief
Rafael Grossi, in an interview with CNN, rejected the idea of the agency
closing its probe without receiving answers.
“This idea that politically we are going to stop
doing our job is unacceptable for us,” he said. “So far Iran has not given us
the technically credible explanations we need.”
The agreement between Iran and six world powers —
Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the US — gave the Islamic republic
sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
No plan to meet Biden
Since taking office in 2021,
President
Joe Biden has sought to return the US to the deal unilaterally
abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in 2018.
The Vienna talks, which began in April last year,
aim to return the US to the nuclear pact, including through the lifting of
sanctions on Iran, and to return Tehran to full compliance with its
commitments.
The indirect negotiations between Tehran and
Washington have so far been carried out through the mediation of the EU.
Asked if he will meet with Biden during the
UN General Assembly next month, Raisi reiterated his position by saying “No”.
“There’s no benefit in a meeting between me and him.
... There is no plan for such a meeting and there will not be any,” he added.
Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy, has been pushing its
ally, the US, as well as other Western countries to stop the nuclear
negotiations with Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday said any
new agreement with Tehran would have to include an expiration date, and tighter
supervision that would also “address Iran’s ballistic missile program”.
“We can reach such an agreement if a credible
military threat is put on the table,” Lapid added.
Raisi said that actions by Israel including the
assassination of nuclear scientists and acts of sabotage against nuclear
facilities could “not stop” Iran’s nuclear program.
He also warned Israel that it “may not have the time
to act if it decides to do something” against Iran.
The 2015 deal, known formally as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear
weapon — something it has always denied wanting to do.
“Nuclear weapons have no place in our defense
doctrine,” Raisi stressed.
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