Iran vows to legally pursue leakage of IAEA confidential report

Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the history of Iran’s legal protests against the IAEA over its failure to preserve confidential information dates back more than two decades.

“All Safeguards and JCPOA reports as well as Iran’s correspondence with the IAEA and vice versa are confidential. The IAEA shares its reports in its internal site, only accessible to its member states,” the Iranian diplomat told the state TV on Saturday.

Gharibabadi said the Islamic Republic has already asked the IAEA to minimize the amount of details it gives its member states in its reports and avoid providing them with non-essential information.

He said in Iran’s view, the IAEA is responsible to protect confidential information, and if there is any flaw in this communication mechanism, it must be revised substantially.

His comments came after Reuters quoted a confidential IAEA report as saying that the Islamic Republic plans to install three more cascades, or clusters, of advanced IR-2m centrifuges in the enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz.

“In a letter dated 2 December 2020, Iran informed the Agency that the operator of the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz ‘intends to start installation of three cascades of IR-2m centrifuge machines’ at FEP,” the IAEA’s report to its member states said.

In his first reaction to the leakage, Gharibabadi had called on the IAEA to ensure confidentiality of safeguards information.

Gharibabadi wrote, “@iaeaorg confidential report, based on Iran's confidential letter, appeared in Media immediately even before the BoG Members could track it down,” referring to the IAEA Board of Governors.

Iran’s permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations calls on the IAEA to ensure confidentiality of safeguards information after a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog on the Natanz facility was leaked to the media.

“Agency is not merely responsible to update the development, but shall ensure confidentiality of safeguards information,” he added.

“If neither the Agency nor its Member States are to be blamed for this crack in confidentiality, @iaeaorg should revise its confidentiality mechanisms including regarding using GovAtom as the safe and confidential means for communications.”

GovAtom is a service provided by the IAEA to its Member State representatives. It provides them with online documentation on the work of the Board of Governors and its Committees.

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