By Xinhua
Tehran : Iran on Saturday urged the UN atomic watchdog to be more “impartial” over the country’s disputed nuclear program, during meetings with visiting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The role of ElBaradei in resolving Iran’s nuclear case was “constructive,” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was quoted as saying.
He added that strengthening professional and impartial performance as well as nonpolitical behavior of the IAEA would increase “credibility” of the agency.
ElBaradei, who was accompanied by his deputy Olli Heinonen, arrived in Tehran Friday morning at the invitation of Gholam Reza Aqazadeh, head of Iran’s atomic energy agency.
Besides Jalili, ElBaradei has already conferred with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Aqazadeh, and was scheduled to meet Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during his two-day visit in Iran, which was the first in over one and a half year.
When held discussions with Aqazadeh, ElBaradei urged Iran to be more transparent over its nuclear plan, he also asked Iran to “accelerate the pace of its cooperation” with IAEA.
Aqazadeh, for his side, vowed Iran would continue the cooperation with IAEA, and urging the nuclear dossier to be returned to the agency from the UN Security Council.
ElBaradei’s visit came amid the international community was discussing a new round of sanctions against Tehran over it’s defiance of refusing to suspend uranium enrichment work, which the West fears could be diverted into weapon use.
After more than four years of investigation, the IAEA still cannot decide whether Tehran’s nuclear program was just for peaceful purposes or not.
During his last report released in mid-November, ElBaradei said “Iran has made substantial progress in revealing the nature and extent of its disputed nuclear program, but needs to be more pro-active in providing information.”
The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, which Iran has denied. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
The UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions — one in December 2006 and the other in March of 2007 — to force Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities and to give up its nuclear programs.