WORLD> Middle East
|
WORLD> Middle East
|
|
IAEA to discuss tougher report on Iran's nuke issue
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-02 10:17 "NO DEVIATION": IRANIAN SPOKESMAN Despite the tough wording, Iran said Sunday that the latest report proved there is "no deviation" in Iran's nuclear program from civilian purpose. Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the report indicated that all Iranian sites have been under the IAEA's full supervision. "The report also said that all the agency's findings are in full conformity with Iran's nuclear activities" at the enrichment facilities in Natanz, central Iran, he said. "The IAEA report has also reiterated that all activities at Arak installations are under direct supervision of the agency," Hosseini said. "All Iran's fuel consignments received for Bushehr nuclear power plant have been supervised by the agency." But he noted that Iran had expected more from the IAEA, saying it could have submitted a "better report" had it not been for the "continuing pressures of one or two known countries." He added that Iran may have to set "new limits" on its cooperation with the agency due to the report's dissatisfaction with Tehran. Moreover, Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused the IAEA of setting a "new trap" for Tehran. The report renewed "baseless claims from the past" and "is a new trap for Iran because we have already clarified all outstanding issues with the IAEA," Rafsanjani told a prayer ceremony. In line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, "Iran's rights are very clear. Our only fault is that we gained the necessary nuclear technology for peaceful use by ourselves," he said. "The United States and its Western friends should not take revenge in this way just because a country is not dependent on their technical know-how," Rafsanjani added. FRANCE CALLS FOR OPENING OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES In Singapore, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said Iran should open its nuclear installations to international scrutiny to clear suspicions about its ambitions. "We support calls that Iran demonstrates through total opening of its installations that Iran is not conducting nuclear program with military purposes and goals," he told reporters on the sidelines of a security conference. All the "information we have collected proves that they have not dropped the idea of getting on with their (military) program," Morin added, citing Iran's display of the Shihab-3 missile, which he said is a ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, during its national day parades. "You don't develop a ballistic missile to carry conventional warhead. It doesn't make operational sense," he said. |
