Iran says nuclear deal ‘meaningless’ without an end to watchdog probe

• Roshan Amiri
• . August 30, 2022
• . Update: August 31, 2022 10:26 am
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Iran–The President of Iran,  Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati, said on Monday that reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers would be ‘meaningless’ unless the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog put an end to its investigation of undeclared sites in the country.

Ebrahim Raisi’s comments came as Iran reviews the United States’ response to a “final” text put forward by the European Union (EU) to reinstate the 2015 atomic deal.

Reportedly, the United States said that Iran needs to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clear up suspicions about three undeclared sites in the country.

In June 2022, the UN nuclear watchdog authorities adopted a resolution criticising Iran for not disclosing the previous discovery of enriched uranium at the three undeclared sites. This month, Iran asked IAEA to drop the issue of three undeclared sites.

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The Iranian President reportedly said, “In the negotiations, safeguard issues are one of the fundamental ones. Without resolving the safeguard issues, talking about the nuclear deal is meaningless.” The UN nuclear watchdog has referred to the traces of nuclear materials as a “safeguards” issue. Iran did not declare hosting nuclear activities on these sites.

Iran has repeatedly urged the IAEA to end the issue before the revival of the 2015 nuclear accord. However, US State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said, “We do not believe there should be any conditionality between the deal and undeclared sites.”

Last week, IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, in an interview with CNN, denied closing the probe on undeclared sites in Iran without receiving answers from the Iranian authorities. He reportedly said, “Iran has not given us the technically credible explanations we need. We are not going to stop doing our job.” The indirect talks between Iran and the US  have so far been carried out through the mediation of the EU.