IRNA - A few hours after the UN nuclear watchdog reiterated on Thursday for the eighth time that Iran is committed to its obligations based on the historic nuclear deal, the US news agency, Associated Press, has abortively tried to change the story.

In a biased report, AP claimed that Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA) 'Yukiya Amano rejected Tehran's claim that its military sites were off-limits to inspection, saying his agency needs access to all 'relevant locations' if suspicions arise of possible hidden atomic activities.'

Although the claim made by the US news agency could possibly be considered as controversial by its American audience who mostly are not very much familiar with the whole episode of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, the claim is by no means new. It is just recalling a routine approach of the Agency that is completely in line with its Non-Proliferation Treaty's (NPT) Additional Protocol and the IAEA's Safeguards.

However, to avoid being found guilty for spreading lies, AP has elsewhere written in its story that Amano 'didn't directly contradict the Iranian officials, saying his agency doesn't react to 'news reports.'

Amano told The AP that under monitoring conditions accepted by Iran, his agency 'has access to (all) locations without making distinctions between military and civilian locations' as it works to ensure that Iran doesn't have hidden nuclear activities.

In fact, the IAEA chief has not referred to a new or strange issue. Basically, inspecting Iran's sites which are only for military and defensive purposes and a red line for the country, is not within jurisdiction of the IAEA. In addition, Iran's non-nuclear sites that are normally used for the nuclear-related activities are under IAEA regular inspection based on its Safeguard Agreement and verification.

In its latest report on August 31, the UN nuclear watchdog has once again verified Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

According to the 29 paragraph of IAEA report,' The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities where nuclear material is customarily used (LOFs) declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities for Iran remained ongoing.'

As per the 17 paragraph of the of the IAEA report: 'All centrifuges and associated infrastructure in storage have remained under continuous Agency monitoring (paras 29, 47, 48 and 70). The Agency has continued to have regular access to relevant buildings at Natanz, including all of FEP and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), and performed daily access upon Agency request (para. 71). The Agency has also continued to have regular access to FFEP, including daily access upon Agency request.'

Meanwhile the paragraph 26 of report says,'Iran continues to provisionally apply the Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement in accordance with Article 17(b) of the Additional Protocol, pending its entry into force. The Agency has continued to evaluate Iran’s declarations under the Additional Protocol and to conduct complementary accesses under the Additional Protocol to sites and other locations in Iran.'

According to the IAEA report, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been voluntarily implementing the Additional Protocol to the NPT for years and the Agency inspectors would have access to any site if they provided sufficient evidence and reasons for that.

The problem is that in a bid to sabotage the nuclear deal's implementation, the US President Donald Trump is trying to add inspection of Iran's purely military and defensive sites to the list of the IAEA inspections by presenting unfounded speculations while those sites are parts of the national security and sovereignty of each country.

However, Trump's theory is already proved to be abortive as even the American politicians and experts believe that it is a repetition of the US scenario in Iraq where they manipulated intelligence information to invade the country and this is what the US politicians are willing to happen again.

In order to prove its good will, Iran has allowed the UN nuclear inspectors to visit the country's Parchin military site several times in the past and the case of 'Possible Military Dimensions (PMD)' which was referred to by Iran as 'the issues of the past and present' has been closed even before the landmark nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors unanimously voted in favor of a resolution to close Iran's file on December 15, 2015.

On Thursday (Aug 31), Reuters quoted a number of IAEA officials as saying that UN nuclear watchdog sees no need to check Iran military sites, because the agency does not want to give the US an excuse to bring down the historical nuclear deal.

Despite the full fledge support of the European countries for the JCPOA, it seems that the US is trying to recompense its failure in the political and technical arenas via fanning the flames of media propaganda.

But as Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Reza Najafi has put it recently, the new report of the IAEA that verified Iran's compliance with nuclear deal reveals that the US officials' rhetoric and media hype have not impacted the Agency verification activities and its reporting on the case.

Najafi said the Agency is proceeding with its activities regarding JCPOA implementation on the basis of safeguards standards. He added that Iran and all member states of the IAEA expect the Agency's secretariat to keep up its professional job impartially.

Writer: Babak Jafari, IRNA correspondent in Vienna
Translator: Maryam Azhis
Editor: Fatemeh M. Safaei