TEHRAN: Iran warned the Group of Eight on Thursday it had no intention of halting its nuclear programme despite criticism by G8 leaders of Tehran’s cooperation with the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog.
“Using peaceful nuclear energy is Iran’s natural right and...G8 countries should not expect Iran to abandon this right,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement carried by state media.
G8 leaders from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia issued a statement on Wednesday accusing Iran of dragging its feet on full disclosure of its nuclear activities. “We deplore Iran’s delays, deficiencies in cooperation and inadequate disclosures,” the statement said. Iran strongly denies Washington’s assertion that it is building a secret nuclear arms capability. Tehran says its nuclear programme will be used exclusively to generate electricity. Asefi described the G8 statement as “illogical”.
“Iran has shown its full commitment to the non-proliferation of atomic weapons in practice and its wide and transparent cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is proof of that,” Asefi said.
Meanwhile, the dominant conservatives in the Iranian parliament threatened to block ratification of a tougher nuclear inspections regime.
“If the (IAEA) board of governors politicises Iran’s file and adopts a hostile position, parliament will defend the national interest and ignore the agency’s demand for it to adopt the additional protocol” of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, warned Allaeddin Borujerdi, a conservative MP widely tipped as the next head of the legislature’s foreign affairs committee.
Another conservative MP warned that Iran might also go back on another key part of the agreement with the European Union big three and end its supension of uranium enrichment.
“The Islamic republic will not be able to tolerate the board of governors renewing its past allegations or demanding a complete halt to Iranian nuclear activities,” said Manushehr Motaki.
Reuters
“Using peaceful nuclear energy is Iran’s natural right and...G8 countries should not expect Iran to abandon this right,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a statement carried by state media.
G8 leaders from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia issued a statement on Wednesday accusing Iran of dragging its feet on full disclosure of its nuclear activities. “We deplore Iran’s delays, deficiencies in cooperation and inadequate disclosures,” the statement said. Iran strongly denies Washington’s assertion that it is building a secret nuclear arms capability. Tehran says its nuclear programme will be used exclusively to generate electricity. Asefi described the G8 statement as “illogical”.
“Iran has shown its full commitment to the non-proliferation of atomic weapons in practice and its wide and transparent cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is proof of that,” Asefi said.
Meanwhile, the dominant conservatives in the Iranian parliament threatened to block ratification of a tougher nuclear inspections regime.
“If the (IAEA) board of governors politicises Iran’s file and adopts a hostile position, parliament will defend the national interest and ignore the agency’s demand for it to adopt the additional protocol” of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, warned Allaeddin Borujerdi, a conservative MP widely tipped as the next head of the legislature’s foreign affairs committee.
Another conservative MP warned that Iran might also go back on another key part of the agreement with the European Union big three and end its supension of uranium enrichment.
“The Islamic republic will not be able to tolerate the board of governors renewing its past allegations or demanding a complete halt to Iranian nuclear activities,” said Manushehr Motaki.
Reuters
