News - Middle East: Iran is prepared to consider mediation efforts offered by Russia and China aimed at reviving Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says a senior official.

Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, made the remarks during an interview with Russian state-affiliated news media outlet RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“Yes, if such a roadmap is proposed, we will consider it,” Kharrazi said, when asked whether Iran sees Moscow and Beijing as potential mediators in developing new frameworks of cooperation with the IAEA.

His comments follow statements by Russia’s top envoy in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, who recently announced that Iran, Russia, and China held a trilateral dialogue on Iran’s nuclear program on November 5.

Shortly afterward, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held two phone calls with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, discussing Iran’s interaction with the IAEA and developments regarding its nuclear program.

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after attacks by the United States on its key nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in mid-June. The strikes were conducted in the middle of Israel’s acts of aggression against Iran.

The attacks prompted Iran’s Parliament to unanimously pass legislation requiring the administration to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA.

Iranian officials said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi failed to uphold his legal obligations to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities, and that his report paved the way for the acts of aggression.

On September 9, Araghchi and Grossi reached an agreement on practical modalities to resume cooperation after a meeting in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

However, on October 11, Araghchi announced that Iran had suspended implementation of the Cairo agreement after the European Troika—Britain, Germany, and France— invoked the so-called snapback mechanism to reimpose international sanctions against Iran.

Despite the tensions, Iran says it remains open to evaluating proposals for a new agreement with the IAEA, and that any final decision regarding the form and scope of cooperation with the IAEA lies with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. 

Source: Press TV