Two days before decisive negotiations on the nuclear program, Tehran wants a comprehensive lifting of sanctions, and Washington calls for cooperation and threatens to confront

The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, announced his country's rejection of US threats to the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the Karaj nuclear facility.

According to Reuters, the United States has threatened to confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency next month if it does not show greater cooperation with the agency.

Eslami said that the Karaj facility is linked to the nuclear agreement, and that no one who withdrew from the agreement has the right to express his opinion on it.

In reference to the United States, which withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018, nearly 3 years after it was concluded in 2015 between Iran and the major powers.

The Iranian official added that the talks with the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, in Tehran recently did not fail, but they were not completed, he said.

Eslami pointed out that the upcoming negotiations will not revolve around nuclear issues, but will focus on the need for the opposing party to adhere to the nuclear agreement.

For his part, the head of the Iranian mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad Reza Ghaibi, said that the agency did not respond appropriately to the constructive and positive approach adopted by Tehran, as he put it, adding that this would hinder future cooperation between the two parties.

American threat

Reuters had indicated that the United States had threatened to confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency next month if it did not show greater cooperation with the agency.

Reuters quoted a US statement directed to the IAEA Board of Governors, that the Board will have no choice but to re-convene in an extraordinary session before the end of the year to deal with the crisis.

The US statement made it clear that it refers in particular to the re-installation of the International Atomic Energy Agency's cameras at the Karaj facility, which manufactures parts for advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium.

For his part, European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell said he had spoken to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian before the start of the next round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna next Monday.

Borrell added in a tweet, that there is a real opportunity and need to end discussions on all open issues with flexibility and pragmatism, adding that full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency is the way to resolve this.

For his part, the Iranian Foreign Minister said in contact with the European Union's foreign policy official that a good and immediate agreement can be reached on Iran's nuclear program if the rest of the parties are ready to lift sanctions and implement the agreement, as he put it.

Abdullahian added that his country will seriously participate in the Vienna talks, and that it wants a good consensus whose implementation can be verified.

The Iranian foreign minister said that the real return to the agreement means commitment to it, and that real guarantees are required so that Washington does not withdraw from it, as he put it.