Madam Chairperson,

Thank you for giving me the floor. I would like to respond to the US delegation’s intervention referring to the issue of cooperation between the Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I would like to remind the US delegation that the Agency is not a subordinate or subsidiary of the US administration; it has its own Statute, Rules of Procedure, and sources of mandates, which include the decisions of the Policy Making Organs. In this regard, Resolution 72 of December 2015 sets clearly the mandates of the Agency and the Director General in this regard. Therefore, even thinking that the US internal regulations can be forced upon the Agency, is ludicrous.

Referring to the US attempt to resort to the failed so-called Snap-back in the JCPOA is also another ridiculous bitter irony of the history. We thought that the US delegation is wise enough to learn the lessons out of the developments in New York and would not raise it here again in the Agency, which has an independent nature.

Let me conclude, Madam Chair, by appreciating all the efforts being made by the Agency and other international organizations in working with Iran in spite of all the unlawful disruptive measures that the US is taking to paralyze them.

I thank you Madam Chairperson.