The ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Organization has said Iran is meeting its commitments under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and IAEA safeguards.
Reza Najafi made the remarks at a meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors in Vienna on Thursday, a day before the start of a new round of high-level talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on a comprehensive deal to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
He also said the Islamic Republic is adhering to the principle of “full transparency” in its nuclear activities, IRNA reported.
Commenting on the recent IAEA report on Iran, Najafi said the fact that the report once again confirmed no diversion in Tehran’s nuclear program indicates Iran is cooperating with the UN nuclear agency and meeting its commitments.
At the board meeting, Western powers told Iran it should step up cooperation with the IAEA investigation into what it calls possible military dimensions of Tehran’s nuclear work, Reuters reported.
The United States and the European Union said they were concerned about the slow headway so far in the IAEA’s probe. Iran denies the charge that it may has been seeking to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons and says its nuclear activities are only meant for peaceful applications.
The IAEA report in early September showed Iran had carried out three of the five practical transparency measures it agreed in May to implement until August 25.
In a statement to the IAEA meeting, the EU said it was disappointed with the “very limited progress” in that inquiry.
“The EU underlines that resolving all outstanding issues (between Iran and the IAEA) will be essential to achieve a comprehensive, negotiated long-term settlement,” it said in reference to the talks between Iran and the six major powers (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) on a final comprehensive deal to resolve a wider, decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear activities.
US envoy Laura Kennedy also urged Iran to “intensify its engagement” with the IAEA. “Concerns about the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program must be addressed as part of any comprehensive solution,” she said.
Najafi said the two remaining measures had not yet been completed because of “their complexity and the invalidity” of the IAEA’s information. “The so-called ‘missing the deadline’ is totally inaccurate,” Najafi told reporters, according to Reuters.
