Former diplomat Seyyed Hossein Mousavian says the major powers' demands from Iran over its nuclear program are "excessive" and go far beyond international law.
Mousavian said, "The manner in which Iran's nuclear case is dealt with is totally political … Not only the referral of Iran's nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council was against international law, but also the current demands of the major powers in nuclear talks with Iran are excessive and a disgrace to international law," ISNA quoted him as saying on Friday in New York.
He said, "World powers have made seven demands in the current round of nuclear negotiations; to stop enrichment beyond five percent, to limit storing enriched uranium, to cut the number of centrifuges as well as nuclear enrichment sites, to reduce research activities and development of centrifuges, to limit the reprocessing, and convert the Arak heavy water reactor to a light water one in addition to conducting inspections that are far beyond the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP)."
"Based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty all the seven demands of world powers are devoid of any legal basis," he commented. The NPT permits member states to enrich uranium to any level they need and places no restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium.
Numerous Inspections
"Over the past ten years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has conducted over seven thousand hours of inspection in Iran … they found no indication that Iran is moving to build nuclear weapons," said the former top nuclear negotiator (2003-2005) who is now a research scholar at Princeton University in the United States.
"All reports by the IAEA confirm the fact that there has been no diversion in Iran's nuclear program toward making weapons."
Elsewhere, Mousavian said, "Sixteen American intelligence agencies announced that not only there has not been any diversion in Iran's nuclear program to build nuclear weapons but also Tehran has not taken any decision to build such weapons."
He was referring to a December 2007 report by the United States National Intelligence Estimate (which represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies). Iran and the major powers are trying to build on an interim nuclear accord they reached in Geneva last November to hammer out a long-term settlement to the nuclear dispute, which has dragged on for over a decade. They have set a November 24 target date to clinch a final deal.
The two sides said the most recent round of high-level nuclear talks in the Austrian capital Vienna made “some progress”, but major differences on various issues remain to be resolved. The future scope of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, the mechanism and speed of lifting sanctions, the duration of the final deal, the Arak heavy water reactor, and the underground fordo enrichment facility are the main stumbling blocks in the talks.
