TEHRAN, May 30 (Mehr News Agency) -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here on Friday that the West has laid a "new trap" for Iran regarding the nuclear issue.

"I think if the agency (International Atomic Energy Agency) would continue this path, it will lose its credibility," Rafsanjani said in his sermon at the Friday prayers.

The IAEA on Monday presented its latest report on Iran's nuclear activities to the UN Security Council, accusing the country of hiding information about the alleged weaponization studies.

Tehran had already said the allegations were "baseless".

At a closed door meeting with diplomats in Vienna, IAEA chief for inspections Olli Heinonen claimed that the agency had gathered intelligence from around 10 countries, suggesting Iran was engaged in weaponization studies in the past, diplomats who attended the session told news agencies on Thursday.

"Yesterday Mr. Heinonen announced in Vienna they had gathered information from 10 countries, and that Iran should provide answers to the new issues. They have set a new trap for us," Rafsanjani said.

In the nuclear row Iran had been very cooperative with the IAEA which was chosen as the arbiter, he stated.

"We answered their questions, and they also admitted to the cooperativeness; however, recently the U.S. has made some claims."

Addressing the U.S., its allies, and the IAEA, Rafsanjani said, "It is very clear that Iran is right."

In their view, Iran's only "crime" is that it has reached the stage of a "peaceful nuclear industry" which they believed it only belonged to them, he opined.

However, they should not "take revenge" like this, he suggested. "We should negotiate. It is better for those powers and the agency to choose a right path" and not put Iran and the region in trouble.

"They have caused trouble for themselves and us,... but we hope they would pay attention to our well-intentioned advice," Rafsanjani stated.

... Payvand News - 05/30/08 ... --