By IANS,
Tehran : Iran strongly rejected Monday reports of alleged disappearance of uranium from its nuclear facilities, terming it “fabricated” media hype, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting a senior official.
“All nuclear materials in Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities of Iran are under the strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told reporters Monday.
Qashqavi was speaking in reference to a Daily Telegraph article which claimed that Iran was renewing its nuclear weapons programme.
He said such reports were made intentionally to create propaganda against the country.
Qashqavi also said that the IAEA spokesperson Melissa Fleming had already released a statement Sunday to dismiss the claim by the London-based daily.
In her statement, Fleming said, “All enriched uranium in Isfahan nuclear installations are under the control and supervision of IAEA and nothing is missing”
She stressed that the allegations were invalid and completely fabricated.
“IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has repeatedly announced that there is no deviation from Iran’s civil nuclear program towards military purposes,” Qashqavi said, adding that the Daily Telegraph’s article was a clear example of a “media cold war”.
On Monday, ElBaradei presented a new report on Iran’s nuclear programme to the board of governors of the IAEA in Vienna. In the report, he said IAEA had no new information pointing to past Iranian nuclear weapons related studies, but noted that Tehran had not cooperated in clearing up these allegations.
“The agency, regrettably, has not been able to make any substantive progress on the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues which remain of serious concern,” ElBaradei wrote in his report.
But Iran rejected the report and said the IAEA’s approach towards the country was illogical and based on Western pressure.
“The reason for the lack of cooperation is the illogical approach and questioning by the IAEA. If the IAEA adopted a logical course beyond any political pressures, then all the remaining and limited questions could be settled easily,” the news agency quoted an unnamed nucelar official as saying Monday.
Stessing that Tehran has already clarified all issues related to its nuclear programme, the official said: “The IAEA should not go beyond its technical and legal framework and not deal with issues outside its jurisdiction.”