Russian negotiator slams IAEA for Iran report leakage
Russia’s envoy to the Vienna talks on Iran’s nuclear program has deplored the leakage of UN atomic energy agency reports to the media, saying the issue will fuel speculations before the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting next week.
Mikhail Ulyanov wrote in a tweet, “As always, the IAEA Director General’s reports on Iran were immediately leaked to mass media today. We can expect a lot of speculations in the days to come and heated debates in the IAEA Board of Governors next week.”
The IAEA has claimed in its report that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had grown to more than 18 times the limit laid out in the 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers.
Iran’s permanent representative to the Vienna-based organization, Mohammad Reza Ghaebi, said the report is one-sided and fails to reflect Iran’s extensive cooperation with the IAEA.
The Russian diplomat had warned days ago that the U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration tries to preserve some sanctions imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump against Iran.
In a tweet on Friday, Ulyanov wrote, “The Vienna Talks on JCPOA remain on hold for 2.5 months. Looks like the U.S. tries to preserve some sanctions imposed by D. Trump on Iran. Washington needs to demonstrate a more constructive and businesslike approach if is really committed to nuclear #nonproliferation,” he added.
Several rounds of negotiations between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries, namely Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia, have been held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, since April 2021. However, negotiations to remove anti-Iranian sanctions have been stalled for about two months.