Tehran: In keeping with the parliamentary
demand that obliges the government to limit its cooperation
with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from now
Iran will not go beyond its legal commitments in interaction
with the agency, an Iranian nuclear official said.
Likewise, Iran will not reveal the construction of new
nuclear plants to the Vienna-based agency until six months
before the operation, Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic
Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said.
According to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), member
countries are required to inform the International Atomic
Energy Agency about their newly-built nuclear facilities only
six months before nuclear materials are supplied to the sites,
he explained.
The move by the parliament came as the IAEA Board of
Governors, under a pressure from the West, adopted a
resolution censuring Iran for not informing the agency about
the Fordo nuclear enrichment facility at the moment it started
the project.
Iran has informed the IAEA about Fordo plant 18 months
before operation.
Salehi went on to say that Iran will continue its nuclear
activities within the framework of international treaties.
The Article 4 of the NPT recognizes all member countries'
rights to have access to nuclear energy meant for peaceful
purposes and to enrich uranium and Iran is not an exception,
Iran’s former ambassador to the IAEA explained.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 18:48