OMM Newsroom
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN Security Council President Sanita Pavlyute-Deslandes and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi to openly and unconditionally condemn the U.S. State Department’s offer of rewards of up to $20 million for information about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports, citing foreign media.
Araghchi said in letters sent yesterday that the initiative was a cause for serious concern.
According to the minister, a statement published on Nov. 6-7 under the U.S. State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” program and later reposted by U.S. Central Command raises serious questions about the security and integrity of the nuclear program of Iran, a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Araghchi said publicly calling for confidential information about a sovereign state’s nuclear facilities, equipment and personnel to be obtained raised serious concerns about the reliability, impartiality and objectivity of the IAEA safeguards system, particularly as the facilities are under the agency’s safeguards.
The Iranian foreign minister urged UN leadership and the Security Council to immediately draw the international community’s attention to the serious consequences the U.S. statement could have for international peace and security.
He also called for measures to address the threats that U.S. actions pose to the security of Iran’s nuclear facilities, equipment and relevant personnel, and for Washington to be held accountable for its ongoing unlawful activities.
Araghchi asked the IAEA director-general to affirm the importance of protecting confidentiality, impartiality and institutional independence in the agency’s security-related work. He also called for necessary measures to prevent information and knowledge concerning the protection of nuclear facilities from being disclosed or used for purposes other than those intended.
