US Admits Blocking Iran’s Nuclear Chief from Vienna Meeting
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, the United States representative acknowledged at the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the U.S. prevented Mohammad Eslami, Iran‘s Vice President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization, from attending the Vienna meeting.
The U.S. representative claimed that the United States opposed the request for an exemption, and this opposition led to the rejection of the request by the United Nations Security Council, in accordance with the regulations of the UN Sanctions Committee. ‘While we are focused on finding a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear program, we could not agree to the travel of an individual under UN sanctions to the IAEA General Conference, especially at a time when there is no meaningful cooperation from Iran regarding the implementation of its nuclear safeguards obligations,’ the representative stated.
The U.S. representative further asserted, without providing substantiation, that the participation of such an individual would have only allowed Iran to advance its objectives without offering reasonable cooperation. This action, the representative argued, would have undermined the credibility of the IAEA as the body responsible for verifying Iran’s nuclear program and directly threatened the security interests of the United States and its regional partners. The representative added that during the tenure of this official, activities have taken place in Iran that are not compatible with a purely peaceful nuclear program, which was one of the reasons for his name being placed on the UN sanctions list.
Earlier, Reza Najafi, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Vienna, stated at the same conference that preventing Eslami’s attendance was a violation of Iran’s rights and the host country’s obligations. He called for immediate corrective action from Austria and guarantees that such incidents would not be repeated.
