In this July 10, 2019 photo, the Iranian flag waves outside of the UN building that hosts the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, office inside in Vienna, Austria. (RONALD ZAK / AP)
TEHRAN – Iranian nuclear activities are in full compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday in reaction to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report.
"All nuclear programs and actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in full compliance with the NPT and Iran's commitments under the safeguards agreement, and have been carried out under IAEA supervision and with prior notice," said Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the ministry.
As long as the United States and other JCPOA parties do not implement the nuclear agreement "fully and unconditionally," the spokesman said Iran will maintain its nuclear program on the sole basis of its own "needs and sovereign decisions" and within the framework of its NPT safeguards commitments
In remarks published on the ministry's website, Khatibzadeh referred to the upgrading of Iran's nuclear activities as "compensatory measures" taken within the framework of the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The upgrading, he added, is a response to the "widespread violation" by the United States of the JCPOA and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, as well as the non-compliance of JCPOA parties.
As long as the United States and other JCPOA parties do not implement the nuclear agreement "fully and unconditionally," the spokesman said, Iran will maintain its nuclear program on the sole basis of its own "needs and sovereign decisions" and within the framework of its NPT safeguards commitments.
On Tuesday, details of an IAEA report to member states leaked to the press, showing Iran has increased the purity to which it is enriching uranium to 60 percent.
Former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed old and new sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran has gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments to the deal since May 2019.
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After six rounds of talks in Vienna since April, the parties said serious differences remain between Iran and the United States for the revitalization of the deal. The sixth round of talks ended on June 20, with the talks currently on hiatus.
State TV reported on Tuesday that Iran's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, and his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Ulyanov, discussed the restart of the talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The two sides discussed the resumption of the Vienna talks about the deal as well as the issues on the agenda of the IAEA concerning Iran's nuclear program.
The report did not reveal further details about the meeting.