Iran sharply condemned the adoption of a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors (BoG) on Thursday, November 20, demanding full access to all its nuclear sites and the details of the country’s nuclear stockpiles.

In a statement on Friday, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the resolution was a result of pressure exerted by the US and its European allies on the members of the BoG. It claimed the content of the resolution violates Iran’s rights and basic procedures and regulations of the IAEA itself.

The draft of the resolution was presented by the US and its European allies, the UK, France, and Germany. The 35-member IAEA BoG adopted the resolution with 19 votes in favor and three against. There were 12 member countries that abstained from the vote on the resolution.

Apart from China and Russia, Niger also voted in opposition to the resolution.

The resolution was pushed despite eight countries, including Russia, China, and Iran, issuing a joint statement warning of attempts to politicize Iran’s nuclear program and asking the member countries not to vote for it.

The resolution reportedly calls on Iran to provide the IAEA “without delay with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran, and grant the Agency all access it requires to verify this information.”

Apart from demanding the inspection of all its nuclear sites, including those which were bombed by the US and Israel during the 12-day war in June, the resolution also demands details of Iran’s stock of enriched uranium, an inventory of Uranium-enriched centrifuges, and the full implementation of the IAEA additional protocol signed in 2003.

Read More: Iran: Always ready for talks over its nuclear program but will not give in to bullying

The IAEA additional protocol allows for random/snap inspections of all of the nuclear sites in Iran.

The resolution was based on a report submitted by the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, last week to the members of the BoG.

On Wednesday, Rossi had underlined that though the IAEA inspectors have seen most of Iran’s nuclear sites, those attacked in June have remained out of its reach, claiming it was necessary to inspect them.

IAEA is misused

Iran called the resolution yet another sign of the irresponsible approach which the European powers and US have adopted vis-a-vis the IAEA. It accused them of trying to use the UN agency for their own political goals against Iran.

Iran also said that the attempt by the US and its European allies to use the IAEA BoG as an instrument to impose illegal demands on it is a sign of “bad faith” and disregard for the IAEA procedures and regulations.

The adoption of the resolution violates Iran’s rights to have a peaceful nuclear program as a signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the statement asserts.

Iran noted that the resolution’s demand for the details of its enriched uranium was based on the provisions of the nuclear deal and the UN resolutions, both of which are obsolete now and have nothing to do with its existing obligations.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the nuclear deal, which restricted Iran’s enrichment activities and the UN Security Council resolution related to it, expired last month.

Read More: Iran reiterates it will not pursue nuclear weapons despite the expiration of nuclear deal

Iran also accused the drafters of the resolution of deliberately avoiding mention of the illegal military attacks on its nuclear sites by the US and Israel and the failure to acknowledge the fact that Iran halted IAEA inspections because of those attacks.

Iran, which has a very extensive inspection program, stopped cooperating with the IAEA following the attacks in June this year. It even accused the body’s leadership of collaborating with Israel and the US and facilitating the attacks.

The IAEA resolution adopted on June 12 became the excuse for Israel and US to launch attacks inside Iran on June 13 illegally targeting its nuclear sites and civilian infrastructure killing hundreds of people including some top scientists and military officials.

Though in September Iran signed an agreement with the IAEA in Cairo to allow back inspectors to some of its nuclear sites, it became irrelevant after the European signatories of the JCPOA pushed “snapback” sanctions against Iran in the UNSC.

In Friday’s statement, Iran reiterated its resolve to never seek weapons of mass destruction including the nuclear bomb and questioned IAEA’s failure to take any action against Israel, “the sole possessor of the WMDs and the only obstacle to the realization of a WMD free Middle East.”

The post Iran accuses US and its European allies of weaponizing IAEA appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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