IAEA has not requested new inspections, says Iran

The Iranian authorities on Sunday said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not requested fresh inspections to verify Tehran's compliance with its international nuclear agreement and asked the organisation not to bow to pressure from the US to do so.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, urged the IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano, to remain impartial with regard to upholding its landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was struck by global powers in 2015 and sees Tehran stop its nuclear programme for alleviating sanctions.

"We called on the IAEA to continue their monitoring in accordance with the agency's statute and in an impartial and independent manner," Salehi said according to Iran's news agency Mehr.

It is scheduled that Amano, who is on a visit to Tehran, will also meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Amano's visit comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump decided not to certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear pact and threatened to abandon it if Tehran did not correct its "shortcomings."

The US has asked the IAEA to carry out further inspections in Iran, specifically in its military installations, under the JCPOA nuclear deal.

In this regard, Salehi insisted that Amano did not request new inspections, warning that any breach of the pact will have unpredictable and indescribable consequences.

--IANS

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