Iran criticized the UN nuclear watchdog's board for a statement being prepared by Western countries during their week-long meeting. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) questions regarding Iran’s nuclear program is one of the main outstanding issues preventing the revival of the Iranian nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Some observers anticipated that the IAEA would issue a resolution condemning Iran’s lack of cooperation on key questions regarding its nuclear activities. During this meeting, the United States, Britain, France and Germany have prepared a joint statement and are hoping to have other countries sign on to it.

According to Reuters, the IAEA statement read, “We call upon Iran to act immediately to fulfill its legal obligations and, without delay, take the IAEA Director General’s offer of further engagement to clarify and resolve all outstanding safeguards issues.” On Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi criticized Iran’s lack of cooperation with IAEA issues and denied that they were political in nature. He said that there are outstanding issues and allegedly nuclear activity at sites that should not have had nuclear activity. 

Iran criticized the joint statement. During a phone conversation with his Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “Issuing an unconstructive statement at the IAEA’s meeting will not bear fruit.” Tasnim News Agency wrote that the statement is “a new scenario to apply pressure on Iran.”