This came after Iranian Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi gave an interview to the state-run Fars News Agency on Sunday saying that nuclear work banned under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is being carried out “without any restrictions”. This includes: 

  • research and development on the nuclear fuel cycle, uranium conversion, and enrichment 
  • enriched uranium production and stockpile 
  • heavy water storage 
  • building the new Arak heavy water research reactor 

Salehi said: “Despite the JCPOA, many research activities have continued (such as research on high-quality, high-performance centrifuges). It’s a logical combination of improving quality and increasing quantity … like using new centrifuges, besides increasing the number of old running machines.” 

The IAEA’s director-general said last month that the regime prevented its inspectors from having access to sites and stopped the IAEA “from doing its job”. 

So, the mullahs are violating the nuclear deal and the Non-proliferation Treaty by refusing to allow IAEA’s inspections and, according to Salehi, “review[ing] its commitment to the Additional Protocol and the NPT”. They are also accusing the IAEA of spying for other countries. 

The NCRI wrote: “Salehi’s remarks are a good indication that the mullahs’ regime has never abandoned its covert nuclear weapons project and continues to hide and provide false and misleading information while accelerating its illegal nuclear activities by taking advantage of the Coronavirus global crisis.” 

Over 22,000 Iranians have died from the coronavirus since mid-February, but instead of paying living costs to ensure that the citizens can stay home and quarantine, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani are wasting the country’s wealth on nuclear and missile programs, as well as warmongering abroad. 

The six UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iran’s nuclear program should be reinstated and all nuclear sites closed to ensure a complete to enrichment uranium enrichment. The IAEA should also be able to perform anytime, anywhere, snap inspections to check if the regime is compliant with the restrictions. 

Following the nuclear deal’s signing in July 2015, Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, explained that circumventing six Security Council resolutions would not end the Iranian regime’s deception to the world or halt their desire to build an atomic bomb. 

 

Read More:

Iran’s Concerns About the Nuclear Deal’s Dispute Mechanism 

The JCPOA Fuels Tehran’s Warmongering Policy and Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons