The ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday dismissed as “fabricated” western allegations that Iran may have conducted nuclear weapons-related experiments in the past, saying Tehran is ready to prove them wrong by allowing the UN nuclear agency access to a site in western Iran where an IAEA report in 2011 claimed explosives tests may have been carried out.
Reza Najafi made the remarks in his statement to a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors after IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano urged Iran to step up its cooperation with the agency and provide access to all relevant sites in the IAEA investigation into Iran’s nuclear activities.
Najafi said, “Iran is ready to give the agency one managed access to the alleged site in Marivan region to prove that the claims mentioned in the IAEA report in November 2011 are fabricated and baseless.”
He said the UN nuclear agency’s claim regarding a site in Marivan is based on “fake” information, adding, “Such a site does not exist in the real world.”
A Test for IAEA
He added that it is a test for the IAEA which claims that its information is valid. “The agency should give the coordinates of the geographical location of the region so that the lie told by the country (which provided the information to the UN agency) will be exposed through a visit.”
“If there are no coordinates, it will be revealed that the agency’s report has been false,” he added. The 2011 report cited information from one unidentified member state as indicating that “large scale high explosive experiments were conducted” in Marivan region a decade ago, according to Reuters.
In his opening statement to the board of governors, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano called on Iran “to increase its cooperation with the agency and to provide timely access to all relevant information, documentation, sites, material and personnel.
