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| Iran Bushehr nuclear power plant. © AFP=News1 |
The Iranian government urged the Iranian government to actively cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection of nuclear facilities by the UK, France and Germany, which have signed the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA, Comprehensive Joint Action Plan).
According to Reuters and AFP, the foreign ministers of the three countries, including Britain, France, and Germany, issued a joint statement on the 23rd (local time) and expressed “deep regret” for the Iranian government’s decision to limit inspections of the IAEA.
He emphasized that “Iran is calling on the IAEA to stop and reverse all measures that reduce transparency and to cooperate fully and in a timely manner with the IAEA.”
“It is our goal to preserve the JCPOA and to support diplomatic efforts to come up with negotiated solutions to ensure Iran and the United States fully comply with the JCPOA.”
Earlier, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that if the JCPOA Party does not ease sanctions against Iran, it will refuse to inspect the IAEA from this day.
IAEA Secretary General Rafael Grossey, who has been conducting nuclear inspections based on the JCPOA Additional Protocol, made an urgent visit to Tehran on the 20th and agreed to maintain the inspections for three months at a more restrictive level than before.
Iran signed a JCPOA with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China in 2015 as a condition of lifting economic sanctions from the international community instead of giving up nuclear development.
However, when former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally declared the breach of the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran has gradually reduced the scope of the JCPOA provisions since May 2019.