Claims about past Iranian nuclear activities void of credibility: Zarif

Iran has once again rejected claims about its past nuclear activities, saying its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has helped resolve all outstanding issues.

Iran has always declared that the allegations made about Iran’s past nuclear activities “lack credibility,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday at a joint press conference with his visiting Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

“Regarding the ‘roadmap,’ we reached an agreement with the Agency to once and for all clear these issues out of the way,” he said, referring to the roadmap signed between Iran and the IAEA on July 14.

The roadmap for “the clarification of past and present outstanding issues” regarding Iran’s nuclear program was signed by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi on the same day that Iran clinched a deal with the P5+1 group of countries in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The P5+1 group comprises the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany.

Zarif said, “The agency, too, has verified that Iran has answered all the [relevant] questions and implemented the roadmap.”

Amano is to present a report on the Iranian nuclear program on December 1; and the IAEA Board of Governors will convene on December 15 to make a final decision on the issue of the so-called possible military dimensions (PMD) regarding Iran’s nuclear program based on the report.

Iran says it expects the Board of Governor’s decision to result in the closure of the “PMD” file. The Islamic Republic says it will not implement the agreement with the P5+1 unless the “PMD” issue is taken off the agenda.

Zarif reiterated, “We are certain that the past and present issues should be firmly closed in the Board of Governors’ resolution, which would likely be released over the next two to three weeks.”

He also said the case was wrongly being called “possible military dimensions” since Iran’s nuclear activities have never had any military dimension.

Zarif also expressed hope that the P5+1 would comply with their obligations under the agreement reached with Iran, which is dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Among other things, the agreement obliges the removal of all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against Iran in exchange for limits applied by Iran to its nuclear activities.

The Iranian foreign minister further announced that cooperation with Greece in the field of energy, which had been suspended as a result of the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, would be resumed.

Kotzias has traveled to Tehran on a two-day visit to meet with Iranian officials and attend an economic gathering.

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