TEHRAN: Iran has dismissed as “baseless” the “allegations” made recently by Saudi Arabia and some European states pertaining to Tehran’s nuclear programme, a representative of the Islamic republic to the United Nations was quoted as saying on Friday by state TV.
“As we stated earlier, the uncontested reality is that so far Iran has adhered to the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) terms while the US and E3 (Britain, France and Germany) have failed to meet their JCPOA obligations,” Heidar Ali Balouji, Iran’s representative to the UN General Assembly First Committee, stated.
The European countries need to put pressure on the United States to return to the full implementation of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Balouji added.
His remarks came after the British representative to the UN General Assembly First Committee called on Iran to resume the Vienna talks without delay, saying that “Iran’s escalatory nuclear activity undermines the counter-proliferation value of the JCPOA and threatens its preservation.”
Balouji also denounced the Saudi representative’s anti-Iran allegations. “They still pursue such policies and practices systematically in gross violation of their explicit legal obligations under the Charter of the United Nations,” the Iranian representative said.
Addressing the UN General Assembly First Committee, Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mouallimi, Riyadh’s representative, claimed that Iran’s continued enrichment of uranium beyond the JCPOA’s limits “poses a threat to the security of the countries of the region.”
Nuclear talks started in April in the Austrian capital of Vienna sought to bring the US back into the deal and persuade Iran to assume compliance with the parts of its commitments dropped after former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the accord in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Iran has said that it will resume the talks “soon” in the coming days.