The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) violated its own terms
when it released an incriminating report on Iran's nuclear program and
threatened the lives of Iranian scientists, according to Iran's
ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
In a letter to IAEA
Director General Yukiya Amano, Soltanieh argued that the UN nuclear
watchdog violated its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement when it
released the names of Iranian nuclear scientists in findings about
Tehran's supposed ongoing research for developing a nuclear weapon.
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Soltanieh wrote that publishing the scientists' names
"has made them targets for assassination by terrorist groups as well as
the Israeli regime and the US intelligence services."
The envoy
contended that Iran reserves the right to demand compensation from the
agency for any damage resulting from the report, according to Israel
Radio.
The 35-nation board of the UN nuclear watchdog looked set
on Friday to censure Iran over mounting suspicions it is seeking to
develop atom bombs, after the six big powers overcame divisions on how
to best deal with a defiant Tehran.
But
a draft resolution expected to win support from most countries at the
meeting of IAEA did not include any concrete punitive steps, reflecting
Russian and Chinese opposition for such measures.
Iran showed no
sign of backing down in the protracted dispute over its atomic
activities, threatening to take legal action against the Vienna-based UN
agency for issuing the hard-hitting report about Tehran's nuclear
program.
Last week's IAEA report presented a stash of
intelligence indicating that Iran has undertaken research and
experiments geared to developing a nuclear weapons capability. It has
stoked tensions in the Middle East and redoubled calls in Western
capitals for stiffer sanctions against Tehran.
Iran says it is enriching uranium only as fuel for nuclear power plants,
not atomic weapons. It has dismissed the details in the IAEA report
obtained mainly from Western spy agencies as fabricated, and accusing
the IAEA of a pro-Western slant.
Soltanieh, accused the agency of leaking the report early to the United
States, Britain and France. Some of its contents appeared in Western
media before their release on 8 November.
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