Tehran, Aug 29, IRNA -- Iran Sunday put a brave face ahead of an IAEA
board of governors' meeting in Vienna, saying it was confident the
country's nuclear dossier would not make a case for examination at
the UN Security Council.
Tehran is bracing for the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)' report, due to be released at a September 13 meeting of the
agency's board of governors.
"We don't think the (International Atomic Energy) Agency`s report
will be such that it gives a pretext for referral of Iran's file
to the Security Council," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi
told a weekly news briefing.
The official said most outstanding questions about Iran's nuclear
program had been resolved, but the Americans were sure to come ahead
with new 'peripheral issues`.
"Experience has shown that America raises up one peripheral issue
each time ahead of the meeting, like the previous meeting where they
raised up the 'Shiyan` issue," he said, referring to US allegations
that Iran had razed an alleged nuclear site in Lavisan near Tehran to
remove evidence.
Asefi said Iran has allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the site
and take samples.
The report, being written by IAEA Director General Mohammad
ElBaradei, will review the agency's progress in clearing up questions
about Iran's nuclear activities.
Earlier this month, diplomats familiar with Iran's nuclear
dossier, were reported in Vienna as saying that new findings on Iran
by the UN atomic agency appeared to strengthen Tehran's claim it
has no enriched uranium domestically.
They said reported findings could hurt renewed US hopes that its
allegations could translate into support for referral of Iran to the
UN Security Council.
Most suspicions focus on the sources of traces of enriched
uranium and the extent and nature of work on the advanced P-2
centrifuge, used to enrich uranium.
According to diplomats in Vienna, the IAEA's new findings
bolster Tehran's assertion that all traces of enriched particles
found in Iran were inadvertently imported on contaminated equipment
it bought on the black market.
Asefi said, "With the clarification of the issues such as P-2 and
uranium enrichment as well as contamination of components and other
marginal issues, all ambiguities have been answered."
"If the Americans do not bring forth a new marginal issue, there
is no reason for Iran's nuclear file not to be put on a normal
course," the Foreign Ministry spokesman added.
"If what has come to pass between us and the agency is carefully
reviewed, it will become evident that our cooperation with the agency
has made a good progress. In the same breath, the agency's report must
show progress," he said.
In what has been described as a confidence-building measure,
Tehran has voluntarily suspended uranium enrichment and manufacture of
centrifuge components.
Moreover, the Islamic Republic has signed an additional protocol
to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), allowing snap
inspections of its nuclear activities.
Asefi turned the tables on French President Jacques Chirac who
has reiterated the need for confidence-building on Iran's side.
"We assure Chirac and others that we want confidence-building,
but in this process, our right of access to peaceful nuclear
technology must be respected," he said.
Iran says its nuclear program is in accordance with the country's
bid to produce 7,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 20 years,
when the country's oil and gas reserves become overstretched.
The country has cooperated closely with the European 'big three`
-- Germany, France and Britain -- to answer outstanding questions
about the country's nuclear program.
Asefi said, "America has always made illogical demands, but we
are not worried and we will not give up our legitimate right of having
access to peaceful nuclear technology."