Iran denounces UN watchdog draft uranium resolution

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) draft resolution censuring Iran will not stop the country from pursuing its nuclear goals, Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Tehran’s Atomic Energy Organization, has declared.

The official commented on the matter on Sunday, referring to the UN watchdog's stance on allegations that Iran is failing to cooperate with an investigation into traces of uranium said to be found on its soil.

“The nuclear programs of the Islamic Republic of Iran are moving forward according to the strategic action plan of the parliament, and the issuance of multiple resolutions against Iran will not cause any disruption in the progress of these programs,” Eslami said during an event in Isfahan. He denounced the IAEA’s decision as a “wrong measure” and vowed a “firm response” to the agency’s hostility.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning the “illogical and destructive” IAEA resolution on Sunday. Spokesman Nasser Kanaani stressed that Tehran’s nuclear program was the most transparent in the world under the agency’s oversight and had been inspected more than those of other countries. 

The nation’s ambassador to the IAEA, Mohsen Naziri-Asl, accused the US and its European allies of presenting “fake information and baseless claims to justify their un-constructive approach to the Board of Governors” in an effort to politicize and weaponize the organization against Iran.

The IAEA ratified a draft resolution on Thursday condemning Iran for allegedly not cooperating with a probe into nuclear traces that the agency said were found at three “undeclared nuclear sites” in the country. 

Tehran has insisted on the IAEA shutting down its investigation into the uranium traces as a precondition for reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement that fell apart in 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal, and the other signatories failed to honor their commitments.

While Israel has warned for over two decades that Iran is on the verge of building a nuclear bomb, Tehran states it only wants the technology for peaceful purposes.