In a statement on June 19, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran must immediately comply with the demands of UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and provide full access to international inspectors.
The IAEA Board of Governors on Friday adopted a resolution proposed by the European troika consisting of France, Germany and Britain regarding Iran's nuclear activities and stressed that the international community must be prepared for further action if Iran fails to grant the U.N. nuclear watchdog's inspectors information and access to two nuclear sites.
This was the first critical resolution of IAEA against Iran since 2012.
"Iran’s denial of access to IAEA inspectors and refusal to cooperate with the IAEA’s investigation is deeply troubling and raises serious questions about what Iran is trying to hide. Over the past months, Iran has not only continued its nuclear escalation and extortion, but it has also stonewalled the IAEA," Pompeo said in his statement and added: "These actions are unacceptable and underscore the continued threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program to international peace and security".
Pompeo further added that Iran has shown no intention of curtailing the ongoing expansion of its nuclear program and for months has refused to provide the answers and access required for the IAEA to conduct its critical verification work.
"Iran must immediately comply with its IAEA safeguards obligations and provide the IAEA nothing short of full cooperation. If Iran fails to cooperate, the international community must be prepared to take further action," the U.S. Secretary of State said in the statement.
The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and reintroduced its sanctions against the country. Currently the U.S. is seeking to prevent an arms embargo against Iran which will be lifted as part of the agreement drawn in 2015 between Iran and the world powers from being lifted in October.
Pompeo said the United States remains committed to "denying Iran any pathway to a nuclear weapon" and will work through the IAEA’s Board of Governors to resolve the issues of concern and insisted that Iran is legally obligated to answer the IAEA’s questions and provide the required accesses and verifiably demonstrate that it has permanently abandoned all banned nuclear activities.
