Tehran [Iran]: Iran on Friday said that it has started activating “new, advanced centrifuges”, which enrich uranium for the country’s nuclear program, in response to the latest “anti-Tehran” resolution passed by the Board of Governors of United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A joint statement issued by Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the nuclear body chief has ordered “effective measures” in response to the new IAEA resolution, Iranian state media reported.
These measures include deploying a significant number of “new and advanced centrifuges of different types.”
The joint statement said that the resolution, was “politically-motivated, unrealistic, and a counterproductive measure,” as per news outlet IRNA.
It further said technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue, as in the past, as had agreed upon by the IAEA and Iran.
The statement also underlined that Iran remains steadfast in pursuing its principled policy of protecting the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and developing nuclear program for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA resolution, drafted by France, Germany, and the UK – and supported by the US, was adopted by the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors meeting. A similar resolution was adopted this June and that was criticised then by Iran as “hasty and unwise”.
The resolution comes days after IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s visit to Tehran, during which he met top Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Iran’s representative to the UN, Saeid Iravani, has criticized the IAEA resolution, saying it was adopted “without consideration” of Grossi’s recent visit to Tehran, which he claimed had produced “positive results.” Iravani added that Iran’s response would be based on its “legitimate rights.”
IRNA news outlet reported that Iranian foreign minister Abbas Aragachi has telephoned foreign ministers of the member countries of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
Araghchi spoke with the foreign ministers of Ghana (the head of the council), Egypt and Thailand and demanded that the member states of the Board of Governors oppose the resolution presented by the three European countries and prevent the Council of Governors to become a platform to advance their political ambitions, the Iranian state media reported.
As per a CNN report, under the terms of the nuclear deal struck in 2015, Iran was limited to operating around 5,000 older-model centrifuges, and the country was allowed to use advance centrifuges for research purposes only. However, Tehran gradually scaled back its commitments to the nuclear deal after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran, which crippled its economy. By 2019, Iran was launching new centrifuges in a major break from the deal, as per a report by the CNN.