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Iran expects IAEA Board not to politicize technical aid

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Vienna, Nov 21, IRNA
Iran-IAEA-Ambassador
Iranian Ambassador to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh said on Tuesday that Iran expects the Board of Governors not to politicize technical cooperation between Iran and the UN nuclear agency.

He said that the approach of the Board of Governors has jeopardized the spirit of cooperation between IAEA and the member states which are signatories to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Soltanieh said that Charter of the agency required the body to promote civilian application of nuclear energy as per Safeguards Agreement of the NPT.

Elsewhere in his remark, he said that a brief look at performance of the Board of Governors indicated that the body would not put Iran on its agenda for a long time and it would never issue a resolution against Iranian nuclear program if Iran were not a signatory state to NPT.

"In this case, the Board of Governors did never refer Iran to the UN Security Council and Iranian request for safety aid for Arak reactor for humanitarian reason and protection of the environment would never be interpreted as proliferation risk," he said.

"Which one of such concerns is raised by the nuclear powers, the major suppliers of nuclear arms to Israel?"
Arak heavy water reactor has been designed to produce isotopes which are used for fighting cancer.

He termed conduct of certain states including Canada and Australia about Iranian nuclear program as 'shameful'.

"These limited number of states never expressed concern about those who are not signatory to NPT while they have heavy water reactor and in addition they have a black record in violating resolutions of IAEA and the UN Security Council," he said.

He said that Arak reactor is under IAEA Safeguards and Iran seeks to apply safety standard for it whereas the US and European states have supplied reactors to several states which do not observe Safeguards Agreement of the agency and never applied safety standard.

The ambassador said that it is 'surprising' that the nuclear states are following double standard for their own benefit and they think that they can hide their approach from the world public opinion.

"Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) has decided to build the reactor to meet the growing need for isotopes for fighting cancer. We will complete the project," he said.

"By extending technical assistance, the IAEA would be present in the process of carrying out the project and it would be a token of transparency of Iranian nuclear program," he said.

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