Page 6 - IRANRptOct21

2.0 Politics
2.1 Iran rejects US demand that UN inspectors are
granted access to nuclear site
Iran on September 28 rejected a US call to grant UN inspectors access to a nuclear site. Washington, said Tehran, was not qualified to demand inspections given that it had not condemned a sabotage attack on the facility, Iranian state media reported.
"Countries that did not condemn terrorist acts against Iran's nuclear site are not qualified to comment on inspections there," Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said during a visit to Moscow, according to official news agency IRNA.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), has complained at Iran’s denial of access to the TESA Karaj workshop, which produces centrifuge parts, claiming it has an arrangement agreed two weeks ago with Tehran for such access. The US said Iran must grant access as agreed or face diplomatic retaliation at a meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors.
The TESA Karaj complex makes components for centrifuges and machines that enrich uranium. It was the target of apparent sabotage in June in which one of four IAEA cameras at the location was destroyed. Iran removed the cameras and the destroyed camera's footage is missing.
"We are deeply troubled by Iran's refusal to provide the IAEA with the needed access to service its monitoring equipment, as was agreed in the September 12 Joint Statement between the IAEA and Iran," a US statement to the IAEA's board of governors said on September 27.
Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, wrote on Twitter that before the deal and joint statement were agreed with the IAEA, Tehran indicated that monitoring equipment at Karaj was "not included for servicing" because of ongoing investigations.
6 IRAN Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com