Iran welcomes any plan securing enrichment rights
Iran-UN, Politics, 11/6/2007

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei will present report on Iran's peaceful nuclear activities to the Board of Governors in mid November.

A western diplomat as saying that it was not clear when the report would be released but ElBaradei is expected to present the report on November 12 or 13.

According to the IAEA procedure, the director general will hand over the report to board of governors one week or 10 days before the board holds its quarterly meeting.

The upcoming quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors will be held on November 22 aimed at discussing Iran-IAEA cooperation on Tehran's nuclear activities.

Tehran has provided the agency with answers to the remaining questions on the peaceful nature and history of its nuclear program.

At the latest round of talks last week, Iranian and IAEA delegations held talks to address ambiguities on Iran's P1 and P2 centrifuges.

An informed diplomat said today that such claims were being raised to influence the trend of ElBaradei's next report on Iran.

The diplomat, who wanted not to be named, referred to the presence of the IAEA team in Iran recently to shed off ambiguity on the P1 and P2 centrifuges and said possibly the report, which would be released soon, would point to progress in Iran's performance vis-a-vis the commitment it was to fulfill in 60 days.

The source added that the report could affect many future issues, including the UN Security Council decisions.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini underlined the need for continuation of cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Hosseini told reporters in his weekly press conference that Iran abides by its commitments to continue constructive negotiations on its peaceful nuclear program.

Responding to a question on the recent meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on the sidelines of the International Conference of Iraqi Security in Istanbul, Turkey, he added that Kouchner underlined France's support for Iran-IAEA talks.

According to Hosseini, in the meeting, the French official noted that if IAEA confirms peaceful nature of Iranian nuclear program, Paris will not have any objection to it.

The spokesman added that meanwhile, Mottaki called on other countries to accept IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei's official and legal report on Iran's nuclear activities.

ElBaradei has underscored that there is no sign of diversion in Iran's peaceful nuclear drive, and that Tehran is not after non-civilian nuclear program, Hosseini added.

Hosseini on Monday stressed that Iran will welcome and consider any plan securing its nuclear and enrichment rights. He referred to Russia-Saudi Arabia plan and added that the proposal by President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad to establish a joint international consortium is still effective.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of Supreme National Security Council for International Security Affairs Javad Vaeedi told reporters on Saturday that Iran welcomes any contribution to its nuclear enrichment projects in other countries but no condition demanding suspension of enrichment is acceptable.

As to Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal's proposal on formation of an enrichment consortium in an impartial country, Vaeedi said, "As long as we are fulfilling our international duties and assignments, it will be natural for us to call for observation of our rights." He added that such ideas can be raised if they honor Iran's rights. He noted that Iran had already submitted a plan for formation of a joint consortium for enrichment in its own territory.

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said Sunday that Iran is determined to gain its nuclear rights through perseverance despite the opposition of the US and its allies.

He said when the US and its allies realized that they cannot push another resolution against Iran through the UN Security Council, they started to take the illegal and political action of issuing unilateral sanctions against Iran over its peaceful nuclear program.

He added that Iranians are confident that such sanctions would not be the least effective. He noted that Iranian nation has shown in practice that is capable of withstanding sanctions.

The US had said that If Iran does not suspend its activities, then it faces additional sanctions, a senior US envoy says. This follows the October 25 announcement by the United States that it was imposing new sanctions against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and three Iranian state-owned banks. The guard and the affiliated Quds Force were singled out for their support of proliferation and terrorism.

The sanctions were imposed in an effort to strengthen diplomacy, according to Greg Schulte, US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Schulte told an audience at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute October 30 that Iran's leaders still have the opportunity to open their nuclear activities to full scrutiny. Full disclosure and the verified suspension of all enrichment activities are necessary, Schulte said. He also underlined the international community's expectation that Iran will start implementing all measures under the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that it signed and will honor the terms of the IAEA Nuclear Safeguards Agreement.

President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad said Saturday that all will soon find out the reality that Iran's nuclear case is a closed matter.

"Sooner, the fact that we said the nuclear issue has been closed from our point of view will become clear to all," Ahmadi-Nejad told reporters on the sidelines of the 44th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Asked about the latest status of Iran's nuclear case, Ahmadi-Nejad said, "The legal discussion we had with the IAEA is back to normal and is following its due natural course." Stressing that Iran's nuclear issue is no longer political, Ahmadi-Nejad said, "The political process that started under futile pretexts in connection with Iran's nuclear case has now ended in our opinion and it has no basis and foundation." He added that the hue and cry by certain individuals to re-politicize Iran's nuclear case is a vain effort. At a time when majority of states have understood the present realities and have the intention of publicly acknowledging the realities, certain groups of states raise hue and cry to seek concessions from the Iranian nation, added the president.

Previous Stories:
  Mottaki: Iran nuclear rights not to be trampled upon   (10/23/2007)
  Rafsanjani: Suspension of nuclear activities unacceptable   (10/16/2007)
  Atomic agency: Iran nuclear dispute case closed   (9/14/2007)

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