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'No logic' in US opposition to Paris Agreement, says Iran envoy

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Feb 18, IRNA - Iranian Ambassador to London, Mohammad 
Hossein Adeli, said Friday that the US was irrational in provoking 
an intimidating atmosphere towards the EU in negotiating long term 
arrangements on Iran`s nuclear programme. 
"There is no logic in the fact that, while things have been 
moving in the right direction since last year and when the temporary 
suspension of activities is still in place, the US has gone exactly 
the opposite way," Adeli said. 
He warned that an indispensable requisite in the success of the 
ongoing EU-Iran talks following last November`s Paris Agreement is 
the "existence of a conducive environment, not an intimidating one." 
"If the intention is to create a safer world, should progress not 
be acknowledged and rewarded?" the ambassador rhetorically asked in 
an article published by the Financial Times Friday. 
He questioned what valid reason can there be for depriving Iran 
of its right to nuclear energy technology, which had been achieved 
indigenously. 
"Certainly, no government in Iran can afford to ignore its right 
to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes," Adeli said. The 
need was to ensure that the country`s oil resources remain the 
backbone for needed foreign exchange revenues, he said. 
He pointed out that Iran`s programme was to generate a modest 
7,000 MW of nuclear power by 2025, a third of the original aim, when 
it started to develop its civil technology with the help of the US, 
UK, Germany and France back in 1974. 
"Iran is not alone in its pursuit of nuclear power. There are 440 
commercial nuclear reactors located in 31 countries around the world 
and a further 284 research reactors in operation," the ambassador 
also said. 
He referred to Iran doing its "utmost to assure the world of its 
peaceful intentions," being a signatory of the Nuclear Non- 
proliferation Treaty and agreeing intrusive inspections under an 
additional protocol as well as entering negotiations with the EU. 
"Iran does everything it can to reassure the world of its 
intentions, including the temporary suspension of its civil nuclear 
activities on a voluntary basis as a confidence building measure," 
Adeli said. Yet "why is it still branded a menace?" he asked. 
The International Atomic Energy Agency is the point of reference 
on nuclear activity. In its latest report last November, its 
inspectors also confirmed that there was "no evidence of concealed 
nuclear activity or weapons programmes in Iran," he said. 
The ambassador, formerly a deputy foreign minister on economic 
affairs, warned that the declining influence of the United Nations 
and erosion of international co-operation was "a growing danger in 
today`s world" and was being "fuelled by US unilateralism." 
It was the diminishing role of such institutions that "creates an 
environment in which false allegations by one country can form the 
basis of action which would be illegitimate and ultimately very 
costly," he said. 
HC/1771