TEHRAN: Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said on Tuesday that the credibility of International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiyo Amano had been damaged by his criticism of Tehran’s decision to ban two of the agency’s inspectors.
"Amano’s comments not only hurt his credibility, but are an insult to other agency inspectors," Salehi, who is also one of the vice presidents of Iran, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
At a meeting on Monday of the IAEA’s 35-member board, Amano expressed "great regret" at Iran’s decision to bar the two inspectors.
"Iran’s repeated objection to the designation of inspectors with experience in Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle and facilities hampers the inspection process," Amano said in his speech at the meeting.
"If this continues unchecked, it will be problematic," Amano later warned at a news conference in Vienna.
Salehi has previously said that the two inspectors were banned because they had filed "false reports" about Iran’s nuclear program.
On Tuesday, he strongly criticized Amano for his remarks.
"If he said these things knowingly, he has made a big mistake and it is very dangerous because it shows that he has been under political pressure," Salehi said.
"If he has made the remarks unknowingly, then he is at fault and should take his time to learn about the agency regulations."
On Monday, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh described Amano’s comments as "ridiculous," adding that the agency had a pool of "over 150 inspectors" to call on for inspections of Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions for failing to heed repeated ultimatums from the Security Council to suspend uranium enrichment.
