Iran Denies Banning IAEA Inspectors Ahead Of Grossi Visit
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, again denied that Iran has restricted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from entering the country.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, again denied that Iran has restricted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from entering the country.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Eslami asserted that “over 130 inspectors are currently permitted to conduct their activities in Iran.”
The statement comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the IAEA, which escalated in September when Tehran opposed the appointment one third of the inspectors.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the time that Iran’s “unprecedented” actions had hindered the agency’s inspection capabilities.
“Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran,” Grossi stated, adding that this impacts the IAEA’s ability to perform effectively.
However, Eslami claimed the barred inspectors exhibited "extremist political behavior," justifying Iran’s decision to ban them.
Grossi recently voiced concerns that Iran is "weeks, not months" away from developing a nuclear weapon capability.
Iran continues to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, nearing weapon-grade levels, far above the 3.67 percent cap set under the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.
Since the US withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 and the reinstatement of sanctions, Iran has surpassed the agreed limits, leading to declarations from the IAEA that the 2015 deal has "all but disintegrated."
“Mr Malley and his colleagues negotiated the release of several Americans last summer and, without explanation, excluded my father. Our family asked why in hell would we leave the one American hostage in Iran on death row defenselessly in the hands of his kidnappers and tormentors; there was zero response,” she said on Tuesday.
“Our family has been disappointed by our State Department officials, particularly the former Iran Envoy Robert Malley, whose tenure has failed to address my father's critical situation for three years,” Sharmahd told lawmakers at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation.
Malley was quietly removed from his duties last April as first reported by Iran International, apparently for mishandling restricted information, but the Biden administration has so far refused to disclose any details.
A 69-year-old California resident, Jamsjid Sharmahd was abducted by Iranian agents in 2020 while visiting the United Arab Emirates. He was sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary on charges of endangering national security in February 2023, a verdict that was upheld by the Supreme Court of Iran.
The defendant was convicted of leading a pro-monarchist group known as Tondar that was responsible for a deadly bombing incident that occurred in 2008 at a religious center in Shiraz, killing 14 and injuring 215 others. For the bombing, however, suspects had already been arrested and convicted years before.
The charges are, however, denied by Sharmahd and his family, and Iran provides no evidence to back up its accusations. Amnesty International has blasted the trial as a sham.
“When the Islamic regime showcased the international kidnapping of an American by parading my father on their National TV blindfolded with a swollen face forced to confessions, there was zero response from the US,” Sharmahd told the House subcommittee.
In an interview with Iran International on Tuesday, Sharmahd blamed the State Department’s Iran team for enabling the Iranian regime after last year saw five hostages released for a total of $6bn in released Iranian funds from South Korea. “The regime is putting price tags on people’s lives,” she told Iran International host Fardad Farahzad.
Sharmahd claimed that the regime, “instead of asking the [western] governments directly, talks to the families of hostages and tells them what they want, so they don't have to admit officially they're hostage takers.”
She added, “For my father's release, they sought talks with German authorities, the release of Asadollah Assadi [an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism], and billions of dollars.” In March, Iran demanded $2.5 billion for his release.
Since coming to power, the Biden administration has been accused of enabling the Iranian regime in its emboldened hostage taking policy which has seen the likes of European diplomats taken hostage on false allegations. Its soft approach has also seen Iran only enhance nuclear enrichment in the face of international sanctions and maritime seizures continue, as the US refuses to take direct action against the regime.
