IAEA Urges Iran To Seriously Increase Nuclear Cooperation To Avoid Tensions With The West

Head Of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi/DOK IAEA

JAKARTA - Iran is asked to seriously increase cooperation with United Nations (UN) inspectors to avoid rising tensions with the West.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, November 5, citing the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi.

Grossi told the FT, although the IAEA has conducted about a dozen inspections in Iran since hostilities with Israel in June, Iran has not been granted access to nuclear facilities such as Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which were bombed by the United States.

Grossi previously said the movement was detected near Iran's enriched uranium reserves, but it "does not imply any enrichment activity".

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, later said Grossi was "fully aware of the peaceful nature" of Iran's nuclear program and should not have disclosed "baseless income" about it.

Iranian officials blamed the IAEA for justifying the Israeli bombing, which began the day after the IAEA council decided to declare Iran violating its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Grossi told FT that although the agency was trying to deal with a "wave" relationship with Iran in full understanding, the country still needed to comply.

"You can't say, 'I stay in the nuclear weapons non-proliferation agreement', then don't comply with my obligations," Grossi said.

"You can't expect the IAEA to say, 'Okay, because there's a war, you're in a different category' ... Otherwise, all I have to do is report that I've lost all this material visibility," he said.