Tehran: Iran's envoy to the IAEA on Wednesday said
his country "will never compromise its legitimate rights" in
pursuing its atomic programme, despite a report strongly
suggesting Tehran was engaged in nuclear weapons development.
"As a responsible state, the Islamic republic of Iran
will never compromise its legitimate rights and will continue
to comply with its commitments under the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty," Ali Asghar Soltanieh said, as cited
by the official IRNA news agency.
"Iran will continue its peaceful nuclear activities.
And, just as many other previous claims were proven baseless,
this time also they will not bear any results," he said.
Soltanieh stressed that Iran's nuclear programme was
entirely peaceful and that Iran would continue to cooperate
with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear
watchdog.
His comments came a day after the IAEA released its report
saying "credible" evidence existed to suggest Iran had done
work towards building nuclear warheads.
Soltanieh, who yesterday dismissed the report as
"politically motivated", today accused IAEA chief Yukiya Amano
of making a "historic mistake" in releasing the document.
Amano had displayed "unbalanced, unprofessional and
political" behaviour in publishing the report, which contained
"false claims" based on information from Iran's arch-foe the
United States and other countries, Soltanieh said.
The United States used the report's release to say it
would seek to ratchet up pressure on Iran, which is already
subject to international sanctions over its nuclear programme.
The IAEA said in its report it had "serious concerns" over
information that Iran "has carried out activities relevant to
the development of a nuclear explosive device."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 09, 2011, 16:08