Iran warns IAEA chief not to ‘complicate matters’

The Wednesday warning by Behrouz Kamalvandi came after the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Iran to resume talks “now” on reviving the 2015 nuclear accord before things get “much more problematic”.

“I amicably advise Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the [International Atomic Energy] Agency, to take distance from making unprofessional statements of political hue and color intended for media” consumption, Kamalvandi said.

“It is clear that if there is a technical issue, it should be presented professionally within the framework of the Agency’s duties and followed through its own channels and through the usual mechanisms of the Agency. Obviously, the arena for such interactions is not the media,” he said.

Kamalvandi was apparently referring to Grossi’s interview broadcast on June 12 on CNN, in which he made unusually menacing tropes against Iran.

“Recent history tells us that it is never a good thing to start saying to international inspectors, go home. Things get much more problematic,” the IAEA chief was quoted as saying.

“The director-general of the Agency, as the head of an international legal body, is expected to distance himself from political statements and positions and to be careful that his statements do not complicate the relationship between the members of the Agency,” Kamalvandi said on Wednesday.

Grossi sparked a controversy after he traveled to Israel and met the regime’s leaders late last month.

The IAEA has been on the receiving end of documents supplied by Israel about Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran has rejected as fake and fabricated by MKO terrorists.

Following the visit, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution, accusing Iran of not cooperating with the agency which caught the Islamic Republic by surprise.

Iran’s response was swift and decisive, declaring that it had “taken practical quid pro quo steps which include installation of advanced centrifuges and deactivation of cameras operating outside the Safeguards Agreement”.

‘Firm response’: Iran fuels advanced centrifuges, disconnects cameras
Iran’s top nuclear official says the country has begun injecting uranium gas into advanced centrifuges and disconnected some UN nuclear agency cameras monitoring its sites outside Safeguards Agreement.

Last week, Iran’s top nuclear official Mohammad Eslami told national broadcaster that the country had begun injecting uranium gas into advanced centrifuges and disconnected some UN nuclear agency cameras monitoring its sites outside Safeguards Agreement.

“We have terminated the operations of a number of the agency’s cameras functioning outside the Safeguards, and tomorrow we will terminate the operations of the rest, which are 17 to 18 in total,” he said.

Grossi told CNN that without observation cameras, the IAEA would soon be unable to declare whether the Iranian nuclear program was “peaceful” or whether Iran was in the process of allegedly developing an atomic weapon.

Iran says all cameras installed within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Safeguards Agreement remain intact. It says the removed cameras are the ones Iran had allowed as a goodwill gesture.“There is no doubt that some unconstructive statements and political stances will complicate matters,” Kamalvandi warned Wednesday.