Russia Threatens to Veto Anti-Iran Resolution at IAEA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia’s ambassador to the Vienna-based international organizations made it clear that his country will vote against any draft resolution that might be tabled on Iran at the UN nuclear agency’s Board of Governors.
“There should be no illusion. If a draft resolution on #Iran is tabled in the #IAEA Board of Governors Russia will vote against,” Mikhail Ulyanov said in a tweet on Friday.
He pointed to his tweet on Thursday and reiterated that there is no need to adopt a resolution against Tehran because it “would be not only senseless but extremely detrimental.”
The top Russian negotiator proposed diplomacy as the better road to take, Press TV reported.
In his Thursday tweet, Ulyanov explained on the latest tensions between Iran and the IAEA and said the IAEA Board of Governors must call on both sides to overcome their problems.
“I believe the Governors at the session of the Board can and should call upon #Iran and the #IAEA Secretariat to overcome the current problems and to maintain traditional businesslike cooperation,” he tweeted.
In a telephone conversation with European Council’s President Charles Michel on Wednesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the United Nations nuclear watchdog against the consequences of its “unconstructive” attitude towards Iran.
The IAEA’s chief, Rafael Grossi, recently claimed in a report that Iran is blocking access to some of its nuclear sites and continues to boost its stocks of uranium enriched above the percentage allowed in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Back in February, Iran and the IAEA reached a technical understanding under which Tehran agreed to exercise more patience over the promised removal of the United States’ sanctions by keeping the recordings from its nuclear sites for three months to see if world powers could convince the US to remove its illegal sanctions.
Iran then decided to stop its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol that allowed the IAEA to carry out short-notice inspections in Iran, denying IAEA inspectors access to the country’s nuclear facilities beyond the Safeguards Agreement.
The decision was made in accordance with a December 2020 law passed by the Iranian parliament – dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions – that prompted the Iranian administration to restrict the IAEA’s inspections and accelerate the development of the country’s nuclear program beyond the limits set by the JCPOA.
