Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that his country does not seek to possess a nuclear weapon, stressing Tehran’s full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding its nuclear program.
During an interview with the American CNN network, Raisi confirmed that Tehran’s nuclear program is peaceful, indicating that the IAEA is aware of this.
The Iranian President explained, “From the beginning, our goal was to cooperate with the IAEA, and it realizes that we have cooperated with it fully and in many ways. Since the nuclear agreement, the IAEA has stated 15 times that there are no deviations of any kind in Iranian nuclear activity, as it is purely civilian and intended for peaceful purposes.” .
He stated that Tehran has repeatedly declared that the use of weapons of mass destruction has no place in it, and that it does not believe in it and that we have no need for it, and therefore its production and storage is forbidden.
According to the Iranian President, cooperation with the IAEA took place in two ways, the first through the installation of cameras that permanently and continuously record all the interactions of Iranian nuclear centers, and the second through periodic inspections conducted by the IAEA inspectors.
He stressed that Iran did not seek to enrich uranium by 60% from the beginning, adding that “America withdrew from the (nuclear) agreement, and the Europeans also violated their obligations, and only Iran fulfilled its obligations.”
He said that this measure does not mean in any way moving towards the production of nuclear weapons, but it is a response to the violation of commitments and the non-compliant behavior of the Europeans and the United States.
Questioning and inviting
About two weeks ago, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the agency cannot say that the Iranian nuclear program is completely peaceful, calling on Tehran to provide clarifications regarding previously discovered traces of uranium.
Grossi continued – during a press conference on the sidelines of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna – “As long as we have not obtained clarifications regarding the effects of uranium, we want to know the reasons.”
He said that he noticed a “decline in the interest” of member states in this file, noting that the United States and the three European countries concerned (France, Germany, and Britain) do not intend to submit a draft resolution denouncing Iran’s lack of cooperation during the agency’s meetings.
This comes after the United States and Iran reached an agreement last August to release prisoners and transfer frozen funds, which experts saw as an indication of calm between the two countries, which have not maintained diplomatic relations since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
