Citing experts and satellite imagery, The Associated Press has claimed that Tehran has been digging tunnels in the Zagros Mountains near the Natanz nuclear site located in Central Iran.

It comes as Iranian officials have repeatedly reiterated that Tehran has no secret nuclear activities and undeclared atomic sites.

Repudiating the report, Eslami stressed that Iran's nuclear activities comply with regulations and safeguards agreements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the nuclear chief described the Western media report as yet another Israeli psychological warfare aimed at diverting attention away from Tel Aviv’s internal crisis.

“The Zionist enemy has been talking nonsense for years,” he stated.

Whenever Tel Aviv finds itself at a difficult situation inside the occupied territories or in the broader region, it steps up such allegations and “psychological operations”, the AEOI head added.

Eslami stressed that Iran’s nuclear work meets the regulations of the UN nuclear watchdog, and “whenever it seeks to engage in any activity, it coordinates with the agency".

“In the past, the enemies tried to put maximum pressure on the country by creating hype. In recent months, they have faced failure and now they have started to bring up news issues, which are the same old rejected cases of the past and have no credibility,” he stated.

Iran Raps E3 Efforts to Distract Attention from Israel’s Nuclear Arsenalhttps://t.co/TzkP5y47S8 pic.twitter.com/ZkaNCggK0n

— Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) March 9, 2023

Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected any deviation in Tehran's civilian nuclear program. They deny all accusations levelled by the West over the existence of undeclared nuclear activities or material in Iran, describing the move by the US and its European allies as a propaganda campaign against the country's nuclear program.

Tehran has always had full cooperation with the IAEA and allowed it to visit the country’s nuclear sites, but calls the nuclear agency's approach unconstructive and destructive. But Tehran has asked the IAEA to avoid politicizing the issue and focus on technical aspects in line with the organization’s mandate.

Iranian officials have repeatedly called on Director general of the IAEA Rafael Grossi to stop Israeli-influenced approach, and emphasized that Tehran would never surrender to the political behavior of the UN nuclear watchdog that is affected by the Zionist pressures.

Back in early February, Eslami said that the IAEA has conducted nearly 2,000 inspections of the country's nuclear facilities only in the last two years.

Eslami stated that claims that Iran has reduced its obligations are pointless when it comes to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) as Tehran is committed to the non-proliferation regime. He added that Tehran has no unfulfilled obligations in this regard.

The AEOI chief has described such allegations as part of a psychological warfare against Iran.

"The nuclear agency has carried out around two-thousand inspections [of countries’ nuclear facilities] between 2020 and 2022, and over these three years, five hundred inspections -- that is one-quarter of all inspections -- were conducted in Iran," the nuclear chief stressed.

Officials in Tehran say the West is waging a psychological warfare operation by accusing Iran of failing to honor its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, while the fact remains that Tehran met all its commitments under the agreement.

They have stressed that Iran is committed to its obligations under the 2015 agreement and as the signatory of the NPT, which is evident from numerous inspections of its nuclear facilities by the UN agency inspectors.