The United States Hailed Progress on Nuclear Inspections, While Iran Said It Made No New Commitments

[Financial News, New York = Reporter Lee Byung-chul The United States touted Iran's return of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a key outcome of the negotiations, but Iran immediately pushed back, saying that "there were no new commitments." While Washington emphasized progress in the nuclear talks, Tehran reaffirmed that it would maintain only its existing scope of cooperation, once again exposing a gap in the two sides' views.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on the 22nd, local time, that cooperation with the IAEA would "continue under the current procedures." The statement was a rebuttal to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who announced the previous day after U.S.-Iran talks in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, that "Iran has agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to return to the country."
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said through the state-run IRNA news agency that "Iran will cooperate with the IAEA in line with its obligations under the Nuclear Safeguards Agreement, parliamentary resolutions, and decisions by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)," adding that "it has not made any new commitments."
Iran said that although parliament passed a bill last summer restricting cooperation with the IAEA and suspending nuclear inspections, cooperation had not been completely halted. It also said that operating nuclear facilities such as the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant can still be visited by IAEA inspectors on a case-by-case basis.
The remark appeared aimed at stressing that the "return of IAEA inspectors," which the United States presented as a diplomatic gain, was not a new concession but an extension of the existing framework.
Earlier, Vice President JD Vance said that "allowing IAEA inspectors to return is one of the most encouraging outcomes the United States sees," describing it as a major breakthrough in the nuclear talks.
Iran also effectively denied that there had been nuclear talks at all.
IRNA, citing an official familiar with the Switzerland talks, reported that "nuclear issues were not on the negotiating agenda during the 18-hour talks, and Iran did not accept any new obligations."
The United States views the normalization of IAEA inspections as the first step in verifying Iran's nuclear program, but Iran continues to insist that there will be no additional measures beyond the scope of the existing Nuclear Safeguards Agreement.




pride@fnnews.com Reporter Lee Byung-chul Reporter