Iran says it won’t expel nuclear watchdog inspectors
Government officials stressed that international watchdog inspectors will not be expelled from Iran’s nuclear sites, rejecting a senior lawmaker’s statement that such a plan was in the pipeline if the United States failed to lift sanctions against Tehran.
The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said Tehran has no plans to expel inspectors dispatched by the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) for regular visits to the country’s nuclear sites.
Khatibzadeh was addressing questions and concerns raised after a stern warning from senior lawmaker Ahmad Amir-Abadi Farahani. The hard-line parliamentarian said in a televised interview earlier this week that the Islamic Republic will “definitely” push out those inspectors if the incoming Joe Biden administration fails to lift US sanctions against Iran by Feb. 21.
Farahani grounded his argument on a recently ratified parliamentary legislation that has set a two-month deadline for the United States to return to the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the remaining signatories to honor their side of the accord.
Khatibzadeh hinted at the lawmaker’s possible misinterpretation of the legislation. “This might have been a slip of the tongue,” he told reporters, noting that allowing IAEA inspections is a separate commitment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory.
