“Political and technical issues have been mixed in the agency’s reports on the type and quality of Iran’s nuclear activities, and this calls the international organization’s independence into question,” Mohammad-Reza Tabesh said on Friday.
He went on say that the IAEA, as an international authority, should not be under the influence of world powers.
Tabesh further said IAEA reports can only be assessed if they are technical, adding that political approaches towards Iran have been adopted under the influence of states that oppose the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian lawmaker pointed to negotiations between Iran and the IAEA, saying both sides should show their goodwill, and technical discussions should not come second to political issues.
“Political issues should not overshadow technical and expert topics and if the two sides have any considerations they should be put aside so that all issues and topics can be examined clearly and transparently,” he added.
On February 13, Iran and the IAEA wrapped up their latest round of talks on the Iranian nuclear energy program in Tehran.
After the talks, Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who headed the Iranian negotiating team, said Tehran and the agency had resolved some differences and reached agreements on certain issues.
The United States, the Israeli regime, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, an allegation Iran strongly rejects.
Tehran maintains that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iran says the IAEA inspectors have conducted numerous inspections of its nuclear facilities, but have invariably failed to find any evidence showing diversion in the Iranian nuclear energy program toward military objective.
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