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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran: No obligation to answer US claims |
| 2008-09-26 |
| A senior Iranian official says Iran is not obliged to answer allegations of weaponization studies by the US at the international nuclear agency. Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said all issues raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran's nuclear activities have already been answered. He said Iran sees no obligation to answer what is claimed in the studies the US is asserting Iran carried out. Addressing an IAEA meeting in Vienna, the chief UN nuclear inspector, Mohammed ElBaradei, said he believed Iran is withholding information needed to explain 'serious' intelligence, alleging that the Islamic Republic had pursued 'studies of weaponization.' The former Iranian chief nuclear negotiator added that after Iran's cooperation, it was expected that the IAEA head make a more far-reaching probe into this issue. He said the same path taken to answer the previous six questions raised by the IAEA could have solved any questions regarding these new purported studies. Larijani said raising the question of weaponization studies means that an official claim has been made and now the IAEA has to investigate it. Iran says accusations that the country has been involved in 'green salt project, high explosives testing, and the missile re-entry vehicle project' have been based on 'forged' documents and 'fabricated' data. Iran has asked the IAEA to provide the country with copies of the documents concerning the 'alleged studies'. The agency, however, says it is not 'in a position' to do so. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh blamed the United States on Monday for hindering the IAEA's progress by not providing enough evidence to back up its claims on Tehran's nuclear activities. The Islamic Republic has also expressed concern that the resolution of some of the issues raised in the documents would require agency access to sensitive information about its military and missile related activities that any government would be reluctant to disclose for security concerns. "(We do) not seek to 'pry' into Iran's conventional or missile-related military activities. Our focus is clearly nuclear material and activities," ElBaradei responded. The IAEA chief said the 10 countries, which provided the agency with documentation related to the allegations, should share it with Iran so that the Islamic Republic can determine the factually correct parts. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Fine. The united states is equally not obliged to swallow your declarations of peaceful use. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2008-09-26 07:38 |
| #1 Iran must make good NOKOR Kimchee??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-26 01:03 |