Aqazadeh: P1, P2 centrifuges case closed based on IAEA announcement
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Tehran, Nov 24, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Aqazadeh
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Reza Aqazadeh said here Saturday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has in a formal letter to Iran announced that the case of P1 and P2 centrifuges and the issue of the 15-page document on metal uranium have been closed.
In an exclusive interview with IRNA, Aqazadeh said the IAEA's official letter was submitted to the AEOI envoy late Friday.
"The two sides would hence start dealing with the following subject, i.e. the issue of contamination, based on an earlier agreement," said Aqazadeh.
He said the IAEA representatives will arrive in Iran on December 10 to hold talks with Iranian officials on the source of contamination.
Aqazadeh said the level of the IAEA delegation is not yet known however.
"With closure of the cases of plutonium, contamination in Karaj, the P1 and P2 centrifuges and the document on metal uranium, we are now in final stages of implementing the work plan (agreed upon by Iran and the IAEA). We hope that the remaining problems would soon be settled," he said.
He said that of course, the remaining issues based on the work plan are minor.
Asked about his assessment of the IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei's report and the western media's ballyhoo over the report, Aqazadeh said that before recent meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, western media were focusing on the issue that the most important subject regarding Iran's nuclear issue was the P1 and P2 centrifuges.
Even in the annual IAEA General Assembly meeting in September, the EU envoy, while supporting the Iran-IAEA agreement, announced that the Union is looking forward to hearing about decision of the IAEA Board of Governors' November meeting on the P1 and P2 centrifuges, said Aqazadeh, adding that the IAEA has times and again said that all the sensitive questions on Iran's nuclear program were related to enrichment and its chronology and if the issue is settled, there would remain no problem unsolved.
He said, "Westerners thought that we would fail in dealing with the P1 and P2 centrifuges. But on the threshold of the recent IAEA Board of Governors meeting they realized that our statements on the issue were the same as that of the IAEA findings; so, they became highly embarrassed."
"Having become aware of the conclusion of ElBaradei's report before its release, they got embarrassed and in a bid to downplay the success, they added 10 pages of extra questions. They realized later however that the subject was not so much effective. Now they try to downplay the issue of the P1 and P2 centrifuges. They resort to certain political issues and the additional protocol to overshadow the P1 and P2 centrifuges," he said.
He said ElBaradei's recent report thwarted the West's allegations and it became clear that Iran has been pursuing peaceful nuclear activities based on its commitments. "Since the beginning too, all the country's activities have been within framework of the program for fuel supply and development of nuclear energy," he added.
He announced, "The IAEA's approval of Iran's past statements on the P1 and P2 centrifuges is extremely significant because it annulled the charge of concealment."
He said that furthermore, settlement of the issue removed any legal justification for keeping Iran's nuclear case in the UN Security Council because westerners' allegations and suspicions were thus annulled. The IAEA's report made it clear that Iran's peaceful nuclear activities have been within framework of laws and regulations and no ground remains for charging Iran with concealment, noted Aqazadeh.
The Iranian nuclear official said settlement of the issue of the P1 and P2 centrifuges gave way to removal of many marginal issues and the remaining problems are related to the source of contamination and the 210 polonium.
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