Russian diplomat says Iran compliant with NPT, IAEA safeguards agreement

BERLIN, March 5. /TASS/. Iran is in compliance with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Russia's envoy to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.

He made the statement after reading a report by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi titled the NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"Iran is in compliance with its obligations under the NPT and the safeguards agreement. The report also reflects the fact that Iran has allowed the Secretariat to adapt approaches to the implementation of safeguards due to the increased rate of producing uranium enriched up to 60%," the diplomat said, according to the Telegram channel of Russia's Permanent Mission to International Organizations in Vienna.

However, the Russian envoy said he was puzzled by the IAEA director-general's concern that Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state that enriches uranium up to 60%.

"This is a thesis that we usually hear in the speeches of Western delegations. The agency's task is not to make political judgments when informing the Board of Governors, but to verify, within the limits of its technical mandate, that nuclear material is not diverted to prohibited purposes," Ulyanov said.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear research. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and reinstated all anti-Iran sanctions that had been lifted under the JCPOA. In response, the Iranian parliament in 2020 passed a bill "On Strategic Actions to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian People" and, in compliance with the legislation, called off some of its obligations under the nuclear deal, including IAEA inspections beyond the scope of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement between the IAEA and the Islamic republic, also banning stringent monitoring measures.