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International pressure on Iran unjustified: London-based envoy

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Jan. 20, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Envoy
A senior Iranian diplomat in the UK Friday castigated the unfair and unjustified nature of an international campaign to put pressure on Iran over its peaceful nuclear power program.

"The news reporting on Iran has been to a large extent misleading because it portrays the country as a menace that must be urgently dealt with," First Secretary at the Iranian Embassy in London, Hamid Babaei said.

He suggested that the coverage ignored the basis of Iran's nuclear program and believed that the issue "to deprive a nation proud of its great scientific achievements from research-based activities" will continue to dominate the media for weeks to come.

"Unlike parties who are real threat, Iran has time and again renounced the pursuit of any nuclear weapons program," Babaei said in taking an opportunity to reply to the exaggerated coverage in the Response Column of the daily.

Examining the real motives behind the orchestrated move to demonise the Islamic Republic, he said that the move by Iran was "crystal clear: under the non proliferation treaty (NPT) it is allowed to exercise its rights."
"Instead of resorting to exaggeration about the issue and relying on unfounded stories to name one party as guilty, it would be much more useful to review impartially the existing facts and figures," the Iranian first secretary said.

He pointed out that unlike so-called exonerated parties who posed a threat to the world's stability, Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had even signed the additional protocol allowing IAEA inspectors to carry out intrusive checks.

"IAEA cameras haven't hesitated to monitor any movement, whether animate or inanimate, in Iranian nuclear sites. In addition there are the 1,400 person-hours of inspection of the sites by the authority," Babaei added.

He pointed out that this was another indication of Tehran's transparency in its nuclear activities and that the evidence "rules out any baseless accusations about Iran's 'intentions'."
The envoy reiterated in correcting inaccurate media reports that after two and a half years of voluntary suspension and confidence- building measures, Iran's plans are now "just nuclear research and have nothing to do with enrichment."
He revealed that further details regarding this would be discussed with Russia in Moscow on February 17, while "what else is needed and what can be added to this menu so that the west's double-standards approach comes to an end?"
Although Iran is a major oil-producing country, Babaei said it will definitely need nuclear power plants to meet its energy needs in the foreseeable future because of its expanding domestic oil consumption and annual growth rate.

"It is not right, by any civilized norms, to impose imperial-style ideas on a sovereign state - and especially on a country which has historically been a stabilizing and civilizing force in the highly sensitive Persian Gulf region," warned the spokesman of the Iranian mission in London.

2220/345/1420