Mohammad Khazaee

United Nations, New York, Oct 28, IRNA - Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee on Monday said Tehran is determined to exercise its inalienable right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and to build on their own scientific advances in developing various peaceful aspects of this technology including fuel cycle.

Addressing the UN General Assembly session, he stressed that Iran's commitment to its obligations under the NPT is steadfast and does not request anything more than exercising its inalienable rights.

"Iran as the party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) considers the development of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to be its inalienable right, and has thus invested extensive human and material resources in the field of nuclear power" he added.

This policy is based on a long-term planning to meet the growing energy needs of the country, he said, adding, "As we have stressed time and again, Iran's nuclear program has been, is and will remain completely peaceful."

All reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency since November 2003 bear witness to the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, and the agency has repeatedly reaffirmed that it "has not seen indications of diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices", Khazaee reiterated.

As a result of Iran's proactive cooperation and full transparency in the implementation of the work plan agreed between Iran and the IAEA in the summer of 2007, all outstanding safeguards implementation issues have been resolved and closed, he said.

Naturally, according to the modality agreed in the work plan, the implementation of safeguards in Iran must become normalized, he said, stressing that observance by the agency's secretariat of the mutual understanding as reflected in the agreed work plan is key in this regard.

"What have been characterized as alleged studies are nothing but fabricated documents given to the agency by a certain country. They have nothing to do with verification issues emanating from the implementation of safeguards agreement involving nuclear activities.

"While Iran has been denied to receive originals or even copies of documents relating to those allegations, as a gesture of good faith we have already provided the IAEA with our assessment of the alleged studies," the Iranian envoy emphasized.

Without a doubt, the move to bring the Iranian nuclear file to the Security Council, and the intention of the co-sponsors of the resolutions adopted thus far, have been derived from their ulterior motives and narrow national considerations in order to deprive the Iranian people of their inalienable rights, rather than emanating from so-called proliferation concerns, he said.

In this regard, the demand for suspension of enrichment is illegal, ultra vires and in contravention of the provisions of the NPT, he said, stressing that the Iranian nation will never accept illegal demands.

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in his address to the General Assembly on 23 September 2008, reiterated that the Iranian nation is for dialogue. By presenting various offers including its "Proposed Package for Constructive Negotiations" to the 5+1 Group in May 2008, Iran has already demonstrated its firm determination to negotiations without preconditions to find solution to issues arising from the unjust and prejudicial approach of certain powers, he noted.

"The 5+1 Group has yet to provide its response to Iran's proposed package. The policy of few powers in insisting on suspension as a precondition for negotiations bears zero relation to realities and is an irrational and failed policy," he stressed.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN reiterated that instead of applying economic leverages and political pressure, a solution that is based on realities, common concerns and obligations should be pursued as a viable alternative.

Iran urges IAEA to pursue balanced application of NPT

Khazaee said the IAEA could and should play a decisive role by vigorously pursuing a balanced and non-discriminatory application of the provisions of the NPT and the IAEA safeguards.

He said, "The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has reaffirmed the important objective of the agency and recognized the inalienable right of all NPT states parties to the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Under article IV of the NPT, states parties have undertaken to facilitate the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, he added.

In fact, the inalienable right of all NPT states parties to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, without discrimination, constitutes one of the three major pillars upon which the NPT is founded, he said, adding that notwithstanding such requirements, the cooperation of the developed countries, as the main suppliers of nuclear high technology, with the developing nations has remained at an unsatisfactory level.

In fact, nuclear cooperation between suppliers and recipients has been beset by restrictions, obstacles and disruption, Khazaee said, stressing, instead of promoting cooperation, the "nuclear haves" club, laden with discrimination and lack of transparency, was created, inter alia, to hamper the access of NPT developing members to nuclear power technology under the pretext of non-proliferation concerns.

To remedy this shortcoming, the IAEA could and should play a decisive role by vigorously pursuing a balanced and non-discriminatory application of the provisions of the NPT and the IAEA safeguards, the Iranian envoy reiterated.

Attempts to politicize the work of the IAEA, including its technical cooperation program, are in violation of the IAEA Statute and will only impede the ability of the agency to conduct its responsibilities in an orderly fashion, he noted.

Referring to the concern raised by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei on the security aspects of the issue and the possibility of diversion of peaceful nuclear activities to weaponization program, he said, "In this regard, I would like to emphasize that the major concern is the nuclear activities of those countries that are not parties to the NPt and have nuclear weapon program. However, we should be cautious about creating an impression that membership in the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state becomes an impediment to the peaceful use of nuclear technology."

Application of Safeguards is amongst the main functions of the agency, he said, adding that while great efforts have been made by the agency to apply and promote the universality of the Safeguards to all relevant nuclear activities, it is distressing that some members of the agency have yet to conclude their Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements.

He reiterated that Tehran calls on all such members to fulfill their obligations at the earliest.

Furthermore, there is a dangerous trend at work, moving in the opposite direction of safeguarding the NPT and ensuring its universality, he said, adding that under that trend, those who have chosen not to accede to the NPT not only are not subject to any pressure to do so, but are also encouraged and rewarded in different ways including through nuclear cooperation.

As an example, the Zionist regime has been allowed to acquire a sizeable stockpile of nuclear weapons in the volatile Middle East region and to defy the will of all regional states and the international community to turn the Middle East into a zone free from nuclear weapons, the Iranian envoy reiterated.

... Payvand News - 10/28/08 ...

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