By IANS,
Tehran : Iran Monday called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed Elbaradei not to bow to western pressure while composing report on the Islamic country’s nuclear programme, the official IRNA news agency reported.
“It is quite clear that there was political pressures out of the the IAEA’s framework,” foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said in a press meet in Tehran, stessing the extent of pressure exerted on the UN nuclear watchdog chief to deal with Iranian issue.
He urged ElBaradei “to act within the agency’s regulations and reject pressures” exerted on him by certain governments.
Qashqavi’s remarks came following ElBaradei’s 14th report on Iran to the agency’s 35-member Board of Governors.
In his report Saturday, ElBaradei reaffirmed that “all activities of Iran’s nuclear facilities were under the agency’s surveillance and that there have been no indications of reprocessing”.
However, he raised in his report the issue of Iran’s alleged studies to produce atomic bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Monday called the three UN Security Council resolutions issued against his countrty as “worthless” and having no impact on Tehran’s plans to develop its nuclear programmes.
“They (UN veto powers) thought that we would surrender as soon as they issued the first resolution against us but as I said at that time, they can issue as many resolutions as they like, fact is that these resolutions are worthless and just a piece of torn paper without credit, legitimacy and any impact,” Ahmadinejad was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying.
“No world power can deprive Iran from achieving its goals. The world has changed and the time that one orders and the others obey is definitely over,” the president said while inaugurating an industrial project in southwestern Khuzestan province.
The West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapon under the cover of peaceful nuclear programme. But Iran says the allegations are baseless and lack proof. It insists that the nuclear progamme is of peaceful purpose.