Iran criticizes discriminatory implementation of NPT

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New York, Nov 6, IRNA -- Discriminatory implementation of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has left many states feeling that being a party to NPT causes hinderanance of cooperation in field atomic energy, IRI Ambassador to UN Mohammad Khaza'ie said here Monday.

Speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on the annual report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Khaza'ie assured the international community that despite Tehran's reservations about the way the treaty is enforced, Iran does not plan to pull out.

'Iran ... is fully committed to its legal obligations, and its nuclear activities are, and have always been, exclusively for peaceful purposes,' Khaza'ie said.

He added that Tehran considers development of the full nuclear fuel cycle an 'inalienable right' under the NPT.

Khaza'ie criticized the United States, the UK and France for their supply of the Zionist regime - which is not a party to the 1970 treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear arms and is the Middle East's sole nuclear power - with atomic 'assistance and cooperation.'

'The application of a discriminatory, selective, highly restrictive and politically motivated approach in nuclear cooperation... has given rise to this impression that being an NPT party is not a privilege, because rather than facilitating, it impedes nuclear cooperation,' he said.

'Iran as the head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) asks the international community to help end the political pressures on IAEA; the alleged reports on Iranian nuclear activities have been provided by the Zionist regime and its allies and it is not credential and this is the reason why the IAEA doesn’t provide Tehran with access to them.'

In a written message to the 193-nation assembly, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano claimed that Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.

Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Iran, an NPT-signatory, has also called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

In pursuit of global nuclear disarmament, Tehran held a conference on nuclear disarmament on April 18-19, 2010 with officials from different world countries in attendance. During the two-day conference, world officials and politicians put their heads together to address issues and concerns in connection with nuclear disarmament.

Despite Iran's compliance with the NPT, Washington and its Western allies accuse the country of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plant.

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