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Iran says will sign NPT protocol on Thursday

IRNA

Tehran, Dec 17, IRNA -- President of Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization
(IAEO) Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh said here on Wednesday that Iran will 
sing the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 
(NPT) tomorrow (Thursday December 18). 
Aqazadeh, talking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, said Iran 
will sign the protocol -- that allows snap inspections of its nuclear 
sites -- at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in Vienna. 
The announcement of the IAEO chief follows earlier remarks by 
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Saturday that Iran will sign the 
protocol "in few days" and those by Government spokesman Abdollah 
Ramezanzadeh on Monday that the Foreign Ministry has been authorized 
to go ahead with the preliminary signing of the protocol. 
Iran, as an NPT member, has always stressed that its nuclear 
energy program is peaceful, and has strongly rejected US black 
propaganda that the Islamic Republic is pursuing weapons of mass 
destruction. 
The IAEA has been pressuring Iran to sign the NPT Additional 
Protocol, arguing that Tehran needs to sign the protocol to receive 
the expertise to which the Islamic Republic is entitled to for pushing
forward its nuclear energy program. 
The IAEA Board of Governors in September set an October 31 
deadline for Iran to prove it is pursuing peaceful nuclear programs. 
The resolution that was submitted by Canada, Japan and Australia 
also calls on Tehran to clarify its nuclear program by the end of 
October and to suspend its uranium enrichment program. 
Iran told the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain on 
October 21 that it would soon announce readiness to sign the NPT 
Additional Protocol, and would suspend its uranium enrichment 
activities. 
The announcement was immediately supported by the Supreme Leader 
of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who described 
it as a prudent and an appropriate measure "to thwart the plots of the
US and the Zionists". 
Ayatollah Khamenei, however, stressed that Iran would stop 
cooperation with the relevant organizations if they demand too much. 
Iran`s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), Ali Akbar Salehi, on October 23 -- eight days before 
the IAEA resolution`s deadline was due -- submitted the final 
documents on Iran`s nuclear activities to IAEA Director General 
Mohamed ElBaradei at his office in Vienna, as scheduled earlier. 
ElBaradei accordingly said the report "looks comprehensive" and 
said it will be examined and the final assessment will be passed on 
by the IAEA Board of Governors on November 20. 
This was followed by reports that Salehi had also handed a letter 
to ElBaradei according to which Iran had voiced readiness to sign the 
NPT Additional Protocol and suspend its uranium enrichment activities 
as of November 11. 
The IAEA Board in a resolution on November 26 welcomed Iran`s 
"active cooperation and openness" with the agency over its nuclear 
energy program thus frustrating US efforts to forward Iran`s nuclear 
case to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. 
The resolution had been initiated by Britain, France and Germany 
that opposed Washington`s proposal to refer Iran`s nuclear program 
case to the Security Council stressing that Tehran must be instead 
rewarded for its openness and cooperation. 
Iran accordingly hailed the resolution as an achievement with 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi stressing that the 
resolution "proved that Iran has followed its peaceful nuclear 
activities with transparency and truthfulness". 
AA/210 
End