AEOI Head Urges IAEA to Enter Talks with Iran with No Prejudgment

TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enter talks with Iran without any prejudgment, underlining that adoption of a cooperative approach by the UN nuclear agency would lead to the settlement of all problems
   


"If the representatives of the Agency enter the talks with no prejudgment and aim to clarify the reality and give a consideration to our country"s rights, they will certainly reach results in their next meeting with us, but if they want to enter talks with prejudgment, I don"t think that they can attain any result," Abbasi told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday

Asked about the level of the IAEA envoys to the talks with Iran, he said most probably IAEA"s deputy director-general and his team will participate in the upcoming meeting which is due to be held on January 16

Meantime, Abbasi underlined that Iran will not accept any undertakings outside the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and added that Tehran will continue enriching uranium to the levels of 5% and 20% at its facilities based on the country"s needs

The latest round of talks between Iran and the IAEA was held in Tehran mid December and the two sides discussed a modality plan for their cooperation

After the talks, Deputy Director-General of the IAEA Herman Nackaerts, who headed the Agency"s delegation, voiced optimism about a deal with Iran in the upcoming talks between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog on January 16 on the remaining issues of difference over Tehran"s nuclear program

Speaking to reporters in Vienna airport after returning from Tehran, Nackaerts said progress was made in Thursday"s talks between the agency and Iran in the capital Tehran

"We were able to make progress," he said

He added that more talks are due with Iran on January 16. He also said that he expects to reach a deal with Iran in January on the remaining issues related to the country"s nuclear energy program

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions for turning down West"s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment

Tehran has dismissed West"s demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians" national resolve to continue the path

Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of IAEA"s questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities

by: farsnews