US unilateral measures endangers intl. peace: Salehi

Iran nuclear chief called on the international community to condemn US unilateral measures as they are threatening international peace and security, Mehr news agency reports.

“The act of US violation of UN Security Council resolution and the imposition of unilateral unlawful sanctions as well as the application of extraterritorial national laws to other countries by the US certainly endangers the international peace and security,” Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said while addressing the 63rd annual regular session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Monday.

Elaborating on the status of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Salehi said “There is a broad agreement among the international community that the JCPOA is a real turning point in the history of multilateralism as an important international achievement.”

“Against lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, Iran has accepted some provisional limitations on its nuclear program and provided unprecedented level of monitoring and access to the IAEA in the context of new commitment under the additional protocol and the JCPOA itself,” he said, adding, “In this regard it is noteworthy with only 3% of worldwide nuclear facilities, Iran has provided almost 20% of Agency’s accesses.”

“At the same time, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always made it clear that acquiring, producing, stockpiling, and eventually the used of weapons of mass destruction is neither legitimate under religious principles nor envisaged in Iran’s defense doctrine,” he stressed.

Salehi went on to say that despite verifications of the IAEA, US called the JCPOA as the worse deal of that country and withdraw from it, noting, “It is noteworthy that the US has developed all categories of weapon of mass destruction including nuclear weapons, and even used it against others.” Washington is also threatening some other countries with use of nukes, he said.

“Although the deal has been praised as an outstanding achievement of years of diplomatic efforts, respective states have failed to go beyond expressing regret for the violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231 by the US administration,” said Salehi.