Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the anti-Iran IAEA resolution would further complicate the nuclear talks with the United States, slated for Sunday in the Omani capital Muscat.
“These negotiations will take place in the shadow of the recently adopted IAEA resolution, which complicates the talks, but we are determined to defend Iran’s rights and nuclear achievements,” Araghchi said Thursday.
Araghchi confirmed that he will be in Muscat to defend the nation’s nuclear rights in indirect talks with the United States.
The sixth round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington will get underway on Sunday.
The two sides say some progress has been made in the previous rounds, but the talks remain deadlocked over several key issues, including Iran’s enrichment rights and sanctions removal.
Tehran has complained that the United States is raising excessive demands.
Just like the previous rounds, the Iranian foreign minister and US President Donald Trump’s regional envoy, Steve Witkoff, led the negotiating delegations in the talks.
Since April, Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of indirect negotiations in Rome and Muscat over Iran’s nuclear program amid repeated shifts in US stances, which have prompted Iranian officials to criticize the “contradictory” statements made by their American counterparts.
Araghchi has reiterated Iran’s resolve to continue its uranium enrichment program and stressed that there will be no deal if the US insists on an excessive demand to slash Iran’s legitimate right to enrichment to zero.
The developments come as the UN nuclear watchdog on Thursday approved the resolution, accusing Iran of non-compliance with the agency. The anti-Iran resolution was submitted on Tuesday by the US and the E3, namely France, the UK and Germany.
Tehran has already condemned an anti-Iran resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency, calling it another politically-motivated use of the board of governors.
Iran has announced fresh nuclear measures in response to the latest resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman and deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Press TV the country cannot make concessions under the West’s pressure.
Mohammad Eslami, head of the AEOI, in remarks on Thursday, said the “anti-Iran” resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors was aimed at pressuring Tehran into giving concessions.
The foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) earlier, in a joint statement, said the Islamic Republic has always stood by its commitments. It said the IAEA’s reports have time and again confirmed this.
The statement further said that Western countries undermine the IAEA’s credibility for their political ends.
The negotiations will also take place at a time when newly leaked Israeli documents suggest that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi may have covertly acted in coordination with the Israeli regime against Iran’s nuclear interests.
The documents, released by an Iranian news website, are part of a trove of classified Israeli documents that Tehran has recently obtained. They indicate Grossi acting under Israeli directives.
The Israeli regime is believed to illegally possess hundreds of nukes in violation of IAEA rules.
Iran’s relations with the IAEA have been particularly tense under Grossi, who has been accused of showing biased and unprofessional behavior.
Tehran has long complained that Grossi has used fabricated documents sourced by Israel as evidence to accuse Iran of non-compliance with its nuclear commitments.
