Iran slams IAEA: 'Report violates domain of activities'

Iranian FM spokesman says IAEA report politically motivated, warns UN watchdog risking its credibility; report says Iran not fully cooperating.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bushehr Reactor 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Bushehr Reactor 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
A September 6 International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran was politically influenced and "outside the domain of its duties," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at a press conference on Tuesday, PressTV reported. The statement came one week after the country's nuclear chief said the UN watchdog agency had made a dangerous mistake by criticizing Teheran for not fully cooperating.
Mehmanparast went on to say that Iran considers "this report to have violated the IAEA domain of activities," and that if the UN agency continues such criticisms, its credibility may be challenged.
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On Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the UN nuclear watchdog of flouting international law, according to a PressTV report.
In the IAEA report, it was said that "while the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."  The report went on to say that Iran needs to provide access to all nuclear sites, and that the IAEA did not accept Iran's objections to the two inspectors it rejected.
IAEA head Yukiya Amano said earlier this month that he cannot confirm that all of Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful, as Teheran claims, because the country had offered only selective cooperation to the UN nuclear watchdog and had rejected several inspectors. In blunt remarks, Amano suggested that the country continues to stonewall the IAEA's probe.
The UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on Iran in June after Teheran refused to halt is nuclear enrichment activities. Uranium enriched to more than 90 percent can be used for weapons. Iran says it currently enriches uranium up to 20 percent for medical radio isotopes and up to 3.5 percent to fuel a nuclear power plant. It says its program is solely for peaceful purposes.