Iran says ready to settle remaining dispute with IAEA over nuclear program

TEHRAN - Iran's nuclear chief said on Wednesday the country is determined to close a remaining case of outstanding differences with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding its nuclear program, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said the country has sent a "comprehensive and written" response to the IAEA regarding the two remaining "undeclared sites," in which the agency claims to have found "traces of uranium."

If the agency does not accept the response and has any uncertainty or doubt regarding the issue, Iran will provide further explanation and review the documents, he added.

The AEOI chief said his organization is enriching uranium according to the level stipulated in a 2020 law passed by the Iranian parliament to counter the U.S. sanctions.

He added Iran's "relations with the agency are based on the agreement reached with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during his visit to Tehran in March as well as the safeguards agreements and the Non-Proliferation Treaty and we are implementing what we have agreed to do."

He noted that Iran and the IAEA are in "constant and sustainable" interactions with each other.

Faced with international sanctions, the country signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments according to the law passed by its parliament in December 2020.

The Iranian parliament's law mandated the government to restrict inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities by the IAEA and accelerate the development of the country's nuclear program beyond the limits set under the JCPOA.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022.