Tehran, Nov 30, IRNA -- Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)
secretary Hassan Rowhani said on Tuesday that Tehran's commitment
to freeze its uranium enrichment activities would be good only for as
long as it was engaged in talks with Europe.
Speaking to domestic and foreign reporters at a press conference
here, the cleric said: "The period of suspension would only be for
the duration of the talks, which should last for a few months and not
years."
"We have explicitly told the Europeans about it and we hope that
the talks would be finalized within a few months," Rowhani added.
Describing as "unacceptable" some paragraphs of Monday's IAEA
Board of Governors' resolution, particularly the first and fourth
paragraphs, Rowhani said Iran merited praise in the text of the
resolution for its positive moves and regretted that this was not the
case.
Nonetheless, the official praised the resolution as "the best"
which has ever been passed by the IAEA on the Iran nuclear issue
compared with past resolutions.
Rowhani reiterated that Tehran "voluntarily" decided to suspend
uranium enrichment and was not pressured into making the commitment.
He said that Tehran made it clear in its letter to IAEA Director-
General Mohamed ELBaradei that it had frozen its uranium enrichment
activities pursuant to the Paris deal and in accordance with their
"political agreement."
"Tehran believes that the IAEA Board of Governors has no power
to compel a country to suspend its nuclear activities. It depends on
the country itself," Rowhani said.
As for the issue of Iran's research activities on 20 centrifuges
which Iran's opponents tried to magnify, the official assured that
they were being kept "merely for research activities."
The Americans raised the issue with the support of the Zionists
who invented the false allegations, Rowhani said, adding that these
were totally baseless.
As for the reports that the centrifuges would be turned over to
Europe, Rowhani said that Iran was able to convince them that these
stay in Iran "under IAEA surveillance."
He further hoped that the two sides would be able reach a mutual
understanding on how Tehran would use the centrifuges before their
next talks scheduled on December 15.
Rowhani stressed that the issue of suspension "did not and will
not include research activities."
As for another question on some activities that were allegedly
not reported by Tehran in a previous report to the IAEA, the official
admitted that "there were some shortcomings," arguing that "they were
not on major points."
Working with the IAEA was a "hard task" as it is a body which is
under pressure (from the outside), Rowhani said, adding, "We worked
with the IAEA and they confirmed Tehran was pursuing a peaceful
nuclear program."
The official also said that if someone made an "irrational demand"
on Iran the demand would definitely be spurned.
He warned that Iran will definitely neutralize any attempt by
opponents to "poison the atmosphere against Iran and will also work
to isolate them."
Referring to a poll which showed 67 percent of Iranians were
closely watching the Iran nuclear issue at home and at the
international level, Rowhani said the poll also confirmed that
Iranians supported the country's right to use nuclear technology for
peaceful purposes.
"The Iranian nation is cpable of turning any threat into an
opportunity," said the official, adding that the people also supported
negotiations instead of encounters.
Rowhani expressed appreciation for the efforts of representatives
of the Non-Aligned Movement member states who were also members of
the IAEA governing board, particularly South Africa, for their active
support for Iran at the IAEA meetings.
In conclusion, he reiterated Tehran's desire to continue its
cooperation with NAM member states toward ridding the region and,
for that matter, the world of nuclear weapons.