IAEA to continue nuclear talks with Iran: Amano

IAEA to continue nuclear talks with Iran: Amano
Fri Jun 28, 2013 14:07:45

Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano says IAEA is determined to continue talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

Speaking at the 3rd IAEA International High-Level Conference in St Petersburg on Thursday, Amano said on Thursday that the decision on Iran’s nuclear case is in competence of the IAEA Board of Governors.

“My task is to collect information and to submit it to the IAEA Board of Governors,” IRNA quoted Amano as saying.

He stressed that the IAEA is working on this issue under a “unique mechanism.”

Amano said that that the IAEA had adopted two resolutions on this issue in November 2011 and in September 2012.

“At present, we inform the Board of Governors on the implementation of the resolutions, especially the second resolution, which calls for stepping up the work with Iran,” the IAEA director-general said.

Amano pointed to the recent election of Dr. Hassan Rohani as Iran's new president, saying that the IAEA will not change position on Iran’s nuclear issue with the shift in presidency.

“We’ll continue the dialog with the country and it will be aimed at achieving concrete results.”

The IAEA chief, however, said that dialog “cannot be held endlessly,” adding that the IAEA aims to make sure that the Iranian nuclear energy program pursues peaceful objectives.

Iran has also repeatedly announced its willingness to maintain cooperation with the IAEA. Last month, Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh stressed the country’s “political determination to work with the IAEA in order to remove any ambiguities” regarding its nuclear energy program.

On May 15, Iran and the IAEA wrapped up their latest round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Vienna, Austria.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran refutes the allegation over its nuclear energy program and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production purposes.

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