Iran Appoints New Envoy to IAEA

Iran appointed Reza Najafi as its new envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday. Najafi will replace Ali Asqar Soltaniyeh who has served in the post since 2005. Najafi will start on September 1.

Najafi is a highly regarded career diplomat. He has served as the director of foreign ministry’s disarmament office, and is considered Iran’s top expert in non-proliferation issues. Najafi is a close associate of Ali Akbar Salehi, the former foreign minister and the current director of Iran’s atomic agency. His appointment is seen as part of Rouhani’s extensive reshuffle of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team.

Iran's Envoy to IAEA to Leave Post

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to IAEA, will leave his post at the end of this month, he made the announcement today.

“I confirm that my mission, assignment, will be over on September 1,” Ambassador Soltanieh, a nuclear scientist, told Reuters. “I'm proud that I've served my country and I'm grateful for their trust and I will go back home of course to serve my country.” (Reuters, 21 August)

The removal of Soltanieh from his ambassadorial post at the UN nuclear agency could be yet another sign that President Rouhani desires to have a fresh start in negotiations with P5+1 over the country’s nuclear program. 

On Friday, Rouhani removed Fereidoun Abbasi from his post as head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, regarded to have more flexible approach to Iran's nuclear dispute with the West, replaced Abbasi. Also, Rouhani is expected to remove Saeed Jalili from his post as chief nuclear negotiator at P5+1 talks, and appoints his foreign minister, known for his moderate views on foreign policy, to the job. With that, he will have an all-new and more moderate nuclear team in place.

Soltanieh, who was appointed to his post by former President Ahmadinejad in 2005, was an energetic, skilled and knowledgeable diplomat that often railed against the West in meetings of Vienna-based IAEA Board of Governors. He also led the Iranian team in talks with IEAE's inspection team. No replacement has yet been announced.

IAEA’s own chief nuclear inspector Herman Nackaerts, Soltanieh's counterpart in the talks, is also due to retire next month, meaning both sides would enter new round of discussions with new chief negotiators.

File photo: Iranian Ambassador to IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh (IRNA)

Iran Rejects IAEA’s “Accusations”

But Will Maintain Cooperation With the Agency

The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh said in an interview with Press TV today that the accusations contained in the report published by the agency on Wednesday on the nature of the Iranian nuclear program were simply a repetition of U.S. and Israeli claims meant to be used as a pretext to expand sanctions against the country.

The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concerns on the possibility of a military dimension to the Iranian program and had wanted access to Parchin military base near Tehran suspected of running a research program on nuclear weaponization. Iran rejects the suggestion, calling it Western-inspired accusation.

Soltanieh also said that despite the dispute, Iran was committed to its cooperation with the agency.

“After 10 years of the most robust inspection in the history of the IAEA, no evidence of diversion of nuclear material or nuclear activities to the prohibited purposes have been found and everything remains peaceful,” Soltanieh said (Press TV, 23 May)

New Rounds Of Nuclear Negotiations Tomorrow--Iran

By Jabbar Fazeli, MD

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA told the pro-Iran Lebanese channel "the AlAlam" that Iran and the IAEA are to hold another rounds of negotiations in Tehran tomorrow. (1,2)

Related to the nuclear issue, Mr. Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator who currently resides in the United States, was interviews on "hard talk" program of the BBC. The views expressed and arguments made exemplifies the Iranian negotiating tactics and their tendency to focus on the legal details while missing the big political picture. Below is the audio link of the full interview (~25 minutes).

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/ht/ht_20130211-0130a.mp3

UPDATE 2/14/2013:
Yet again, nothing came of this round of negotiations.

References:
(1) http://www.alalam.ir/news/1444960
(2) http://www.radiofarda.com/content/f8-soltanieh-iran-and-iaea/24798104.html

Military Strike May Lead to Withdrawal from NPT - Iran Official

Iran’s Ambassador to IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said in Vienna today that any attack on the country’s nuclear facilities may lead it to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear arms.  (Reuters, 30 November)

If attacked, “there is a possibility that the (Iranian) parliament forces the government to stop the (U.N. nuclear) agency inspections or even in the worse scenario withdraw from the NPT,” Soltanieh said. Military strikes would not stop Iran from enriching uranium, he added.

“Iran is master of enrichment technology ... it can easily replace the damaged facilities,” Soltanieh said.

But, the Iranian ambassador said in a long statement in English to IAEA Board of Governors that Iran is “well prepared to find a negotiated face-saving solution and a breakthrough from the existing stalemate.” (Reuters)

Photo credit: Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA (EPA/Reuters, Roland Schlager)

Amano in Tehran

IAEA Director Yukiya Amano arrived in Tehran today accompanied by Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA deputy director general for safeguards, and Rafael Mariano Grossi, the agency’s assistant director general for policy, and was welcomed at Tehran’s airport by Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh. Mr. Amano has already held talks with the Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. He is also scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi before departing for Geneva.

No details of Amano’s talks with Iranian officials were available at this time, but analysts believe that Mr. Amano would not have made the previously unscheduled visit to Tehran if he did not believe that a framework agreement on IAEA expanded powers to inspect the country’s nuclear and relevant military sites could be achieved during his stay in the country. 

On Wednesday, the six major powers and Iran would resume their talks in Baghdad. For the West, the stated goal of the meeting is to start a verifiable process to halt any work on nuclear weapons in Iran. Today’s expected agreement between IAEA and Iran on free access of the agency’s inspectors to suspected military sites, namely Parchin, would go a long way to seal a deal in Baghdad.

Photo Credit: IAEA Director Yukiya Amano (center) meets Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (r) with Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh present. Tehran. 21 May 2012. IRNA 

Iran-IAEA Talks “Fruitful” –Will Resume on Monday

Possible Military Dimensions of Iran's Nuclear Program Is Primary Focus 

Iran and IAEA ended their second day of meetings today in Vienna and will resume talks on Monday, suggesting real progress is being achieved.

"We had a good exchange of views and we will meet again on Monday" IAEA’s Hermann Nackaerts and Iran’s Ali Asghar Soltanieh said in a joint statement at the end of today’s talks.

Soltanieh went further and told the reporters that the discussions were “fruitful,” taking place in a “very conductive environment.”

"We have made progress on this issue regarding preparing and negotiating the modality framework for resolving our outstanding issues," Soltanieh added. "

"During these two days we discussed a number of options to take the agency verification process forward in a structured way," Nackaerts told reporters. "The primary focus of our discussion was how to clarify issues related to possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program." [AFP, 15 May].

Iran Not to Pull Out of NPT – Ambassador to IAEA

Calls Israeli War Threats ‘Illegal’

Iran ruled out pulling out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In an interview with France 24 TV news channel, Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Iran is determined to continue its nuclear energy program under the IAEA’s control. Soltanieh added that Iran remained committed to its international obligations “despite sanctions, war threats and even the assassination of its nuclear scientists.”

Soltanieh also condemned Israeli war threats against Iran as a violation of international laws. He said the IAEA Resolution 533 adopted in 1990 prohibits armed attacks against nuclear installations devoted to peaceful purposes.