Iran urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday.
The request emerged just a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its uranium enrichment, according to The Associated Press.
The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the IAEA to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.
“It is expected the international atomic energy agency avoid providing unnecessary details and prevent paving ground for misunderstanding” in the international community, the statement said. The Tehran regime did not elucidate what it meant by that.
On Saturday the three individual European signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) sharply criticized Tehran declaring that “there was no credible civilian use” for producing uranium metal. They went further, calling it the “latest planned violation of the 2015 nuclear deal.”
“The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications,” they added.
On Thursday, the IAEA said Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel,” reported AP.
Iran reacted to the European statement Sunday saying Iran informed the UN nuclear watchdog nearly two decades ago of its plans for the “peaceful and conventional” production of uranium metal. It also said it provided updated information to the agency two years ago about its plans to produce silicide advanced fuel.
This latest provocation is likely a deliberate Iranian ploy to test the boundaries of European resolve. Tehran is eagerly awaiting the end of US President Donald Trump’s term in office, as he unilaterally withdrew his country from the JCPOA in 2018, having been highly critical of it since before his election.
President-elect Joe Biden is understood to want to return to a much more conciliatory attitude toward Iran, including a return to the nuclear deal implemented at the behest of his erstwhile boss, former President Barack Obama.
SOURCE
