Russia criticizes IAEA untimely resolution on Iran’s nuclear program

Western countries are using the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to create problems for the continuation of talks on the restoration of the Iran nuclear deal, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said on Friday.

"Why there was a need to create problems for the Vienna talks on restoring the nuclear deal is also unclear. Although, today the reasons seem to have become clearer as the Pentagon stated that in the current conditions, agreements on the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, are now irrelevant. It explains why Western negotiators risked jeopardizing both the negotiating process and relations between the IAEA secretariat and Iran," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to Ulyanov, the resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors initiated by Germany, the United Kingdom and France is extremely untimely. "Another round of consultations between IAEA specialists and the Iranian side is to take place by the end of this month. They are supposed to meet in Tehran. I hope these plans will be implemented," he said.

The resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, which was approved by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday called for Iran's urgent cooperation with the agency.