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Davos: Iran will only negotiate on its nuclear capability with the International Atomic Energy Authority, IAEA, which it regards as the only organisation with which its needs to discuss its compliance with international rules.
“The IAEA is the only authority to say if a country has a diversion of nuclear material from its system or not,” said Samare Hashemi Shajareh, First Advisor to the President of Iran, spelling out an Iranian refusal to widen the negotiations to other bodies.
This position was disputed in Davos on Saturday by Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to the United Nations, who reminded the Iranian officials that there were two diplomatic tracks at present, one with the IAEA, and the other with the UN Security Council which has required Iran to stop enriching uranium and reprocessing its fuel.
Iran objected to the Security Council’s requirements. “Why should Iran submit to any inspection regime which is way beyond international law? Why should we be singled out? Just because of baseless accusations?” snapped Shajareh, pointing out that there had been no case of diversion or misuse.
The current third UN Security Council resolution against Iran was attacked by Manoucheher Mottaki, Iranian Foreign Minister, who pointed out that Iran has answered all but two or three questions from the IAEA, and he expected them to be sorted out to the UN body’s complete satisfaction very soon.
“The IAEA is due give its final report in March, in a matter of 40 days, so why did the Five plus One group want to rush to a third resolution? Once they get the IAEA’s final report they will have to withdraw this hasty move, and take the resolutions out of the Security Council,” said Mottaki.
Iran’s right to develop a peaceful nuclear programme was underlined by Mottaki, who ridiculed any implication that Iran had a nuclear weapons programme. “There is no place for nuclear weapons in our defence strategy,” he said Mottaki, adding that nuclear weapons “are blunt instruments and that the age of nuclear weapons is over”.
In addition to what he called their lack of any practical use, he also referred to a religious ruling from Ayatollah Khomeini that weapons of mass destruction are forbidden, which was given when Iran was being attacked with such weapons by Iraq, and there use s a deterent might have been considered.
“Iran has the right to provide energy for its own peaceful use, and it plans to build 10 nuclear power stations,” said Mottaki. “One is almost complete and the second is underway. As part of this programme Iran has every right to building is own complete fuel cycle capability, including uranium enrichment and fuel reprocessing.”
The tough Iranian position was attacked by Khalilzad, who said that Iran’s declarations have been seen to have one position, while its actions take a different line.
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