United Nations: Amid possibility of fresh
sanctions by the US and EU against Iran, India has called for
a "diplomatic solution" to any international concern over
Tehran's nuclear programme, saying doors should be kept open
for dialogue and to avoid confrontation.
Addressing a United Nations Security Council briefing on
Iran, senior official from the Indian mission Vinay Kumar said
India has been consistently underlining the critical
importance of continued dialogue between Iran and the UN's
atomic energy watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency.
Kumar said India supports the intensification of dialogue
between Iran and the agency aimed at resolving "all
outstanding substantive issues" including concerns over
Tehran's nuclear programme that the report of the IAEA head
had highlighted last month.
Reiterating its support for a "diplomatic solution" Kumar
said India feels it is "essential to keep the door open for
dialogue and avoidance of confrontation".
"We believe that it is necessary to expand the diplomatic
space to address all outstanding issues in restoring
international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of
Iran's nuclear programme," he said.
India has supported the right of all states to the
peaceful uses of nuclear energy, consistent with their
respective obligations.
As a non-nuclear weapon state signatory to the NPT, Iran
has "all the rights and obligations that go with its
membership pertaining to the use of nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes".
India also underlined the need for international focus on
clandestine proliferation activities. While India said it supported the full implementation by
all states of the UN Security Council resolutions 1737 and
1929 imposing sanctions against Iran, "all efforts should be
made to ensure that legitimate trade and economic activities
do not suffer".
The US and the EU are looking at imposing restrictions on
Iran's central bank and oil industry.
Iran's deputy oil minister Ahmad Qalebani was quoted by
the official Iranian Students' News Agency as saying that
Iran's crude oil production in 2011 had declined from the year
before "due to lack of investment in oil field development,"
an admission that the sanctions were hurting the Iranian
economy.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 22, 2011, 00:42