A member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for refusing to accept facts about Tehran's nuclear program.
The UN nuclear agency's decision to decline the offer of access to the Marivan region, where the IAEA has claimed high explosives tests may have taken place, indicates that the IAEA has no intention to accept the fact that Tehran is pursuing a peaceful nuclear program and that the UN agency's claims about possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear work are "unfounded", Mehdi Davatgari said in an interview with ICANA on Sunday.
"It is obvious that international organizations are not interested in the facts concerning Iran's peaceful nuclear program," he said, adding, "With regard to Iran's nuclear program, we have frequently seen that international organizations have become a tool for the hegemonistic countries to achieve their objectives rather than meet their legal obligations."
Reuters reported on Thursday that the UN nuclear watchdog has dismissed an Iranian offer of access to the western Marivan region, saying this did not address its concerns.
Iran denies its nuclear work has any military objectives, saying the program is solely for peaceful purposes. However, it has increased cooperation with the IAEA and engaged seriously in the nuclear talks with the major powers to ease concerns over its nuclear activities since President Hassan Rouhani took office last year.
At last month's IAEA board meeting, Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi said the allegations of illicit nuclear related activity were based on "wrong" and "fabricated" information provided by a few member states.
To prove them wrong, he said Iran would be ready to give the IAEA "one managed access" to Marivan, a region mentioned in an IAEA report in 2011 on alleged activities that could be relevant for developing nuclear weapons.Commenting on the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany), Davati said the major powers are expected to act independently in the negotiations and respect the Iranian nation's rights.
"If Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime want to put the western countries under pressure, it will undermine the independence of the P5+1, so it is expected that they engage in the talks taking into account the existing realities and the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking to produce and stockpile nuclear weapons."
