American media on Wednesday cited unnamed intelligence sources as saying that satellite imagery picked up by the US government assets in mid- and late July showed that Iran had moved bulldozers and other heavy machinery to the Parchin site and that the US intelligence community “concluded with high confidence that the Iranian government was working to clean up the site ahead of planned inspections by the IAEA”.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Zarif dismissed the anti-Iran accusations, saying that “ruining the atmosphere (created after the nuclear conclusion)” is the sole purpose behind such media reports.
“These remarks indicate that all the claims made against the Islamic Republic of Iran in this regard are unfounded,” the Iranian minister stated.
“We have declared that a road construction work has been done in that area,” Zarif emphasized.
He further underlined that the issue will become “crystal clear” for the world public opinion, adding that “they have spread such lies in the past, too.”
Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations had also denied the allegations as ludicrous and similar to the previous “repetitious and worn-out claims”.
The Parchin military site is a vast area including different military, industrial, administrative and residential sections and that construction activities in Parchin are quite normal, Iran’s mission said in a statement.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14 successfully concluded their nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria, and finalized the text of a comprehensive nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been given the role of verifying Iran’s commitments under the accord.