Iran has criticized the unfounded US-EU allegations questioning the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities without presenting clear evidence.
The third day of the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors focused on Iran's Ambassador to the agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh's statement on the IAEA's western-influenced allegations that Iran's uranium enrichment is increasingly taking on military dimensions, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Speaking to reporters in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Wednesday, Soltanieh said that threats and sanctions could not halt Iran's civilian nuclear drive.
"Our message is very clear: We will continue our cooperation with the IAEA in accordance with comprehensive safeguards and we will continue our enrichment activities under the IAEA without any interruption. Neither sanctions nor resolutions, nor threats of an attack, nothing could stop this enrichment, which is exclusively for peaceful purposes," the Iranian envoy stressed.
“The United States and the EU have once again repeated the unfounded claims questioning the peaceful nature of our nuclear activities without presenting any authenticated evidence," Soltanieh further explained.
US Ambassador to the IAEA Glyn Davies, however, said that the agency's Director General Yukiya Amano's report raises a number of issues that are of serious concern to the international community.
Davies suggested that Amano “can deliver himself...his best assessment of whether there have been in the case of uranium program, military dimensions to nuclear activities in Iran.”
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is solely aimed at peaceful purposes, and that as a member of the IAEA and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology.
Another topic addressed by Soltanieh was Iran's intention to remove fuel from the nuclear reactor at its Bushehr power plant upon a request from Russian experts, who wanted the fuel to be unloaded for tests and technical measures.
“The nuclear power plant in [the southern Iranian city of] Bushehr is being completed based on a contract with our Russian friends. [The] Russian supplier has a contractual obligation to complete and put in operation this power plant. And, therefore, we expect them to fulfill their obligation in a timely manner as planned. This is the expectation of our side,” Soltanieh told Press TV.
The overall message of the Iranian mission was to open a new chapter of mutual trust and collective cooperation to implement the objectives for the promotion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy in order to contribute to peace and prosperity in the world.
Soltanieh also explained in his statement that Iran's nuclear materials are under the IAEA's close surveillance and that Tehran has always fully cooperated with the agency in applying safeguard agreements on its nuclear materials and facilities.
DB/MRS/GHN/HRF