Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Ahmedinejad says IAEA report shows atom work peaceful: Geo Headlines


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the latest UN atomic watchdog report on Iran's disputed nuclear programme confirmed its peaceful nature, Iran's state Press TV reported on Thursday.

Press TV said Ahmadinejad told it in an interview that Iran had cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with "full transparency."

The Vienna-based UN agency said in Monday's report that Iranian stonewalling had brought to a standstill an agency inquiry to resolve whether Tehran had covertly researched ways to make a nuclear bomb.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for generating electricity, rejecting Western accusations it is seeking to build bombs.

"President Ahmadinejad said the report confirms Iran's peaceful drive for nuclear energy," Press TV said, adding it would give more details of the interview later.

"The report had no negative points about Iran's nuclear programme except the so-called alleged (weaponisation) studies which (have) no legal basis," the television station cited the president as saying.

The IAEA wants Iran to clarify intelligence material pointing to links between Iranian projects to process uranium, test high explosives and modify the cone of its long-distance Shahab-3 missile in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.

The Islamic Republic has denied the allegations but the IAEA says Iran must substantiate its position by granting access to sites, documents and relevant officials for interviews.

The United States, Britain and France this week vowed to seek harsher sanctions on Tehran over its defiance of UN demands for full disclosure and a suspension of uranium enrichment.

Ahmadinejad was due to hold a news conference later on Thursday.

No comments:

Post a Comment