Kamalvandi: IAEA and member states must stand up to US bullying

Pars Today- Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, described preventing Mohammad Eslami from attending the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference as a dangerous precedent for all countries and stressed that the IAEA and its member states must stand up to US bullying and political pressure.

According to Pars Today, citing IRNA, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Monday: “Preventing the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran from attending the General Conference creates a precedent that will affect everyone. For this reason, we must stand up to such bullying and political pressure.”

He added: “This latest malicious action by the US government can be described as nothing other than childish behavior.”

The spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stressed that the IAEA and other countries have a duty to pressure the US government to abide by the rules, particularly the IAEA’s rules of procedure, and to reject pressure on various countries and this international organization.

The Austrian government, in an action contrary to its obligations as the host of international organizations and under US pressure, revoked Mohammad Eslami’s visa, thereby preventing him from attending the IAEA General Conference.

Meanwhile, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, described Austria’s revocation of the visa of Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as a violation of the country’s obligations toward the IAEA. He also described the efforts by Britain, France and Germany to activate the mechanism for the return of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran as lacking legal validity.