By IRNA,
Tehran : Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said here Monday Iran’s relations with IAEA is based on mutual trust and our current negotiations with Agency are on whether there remains any ambiguity.
Reza Aqazadeh who was speaking after a joint press conference following his two-hour talks with Acting Secretary of the Russian National Security Council Valentin Sobolev, added, “Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA is in the framework of the nuclear NPT.”
Aqazadeh who was speaking to the press after officially seeing Sobolev off, said, “The volume of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program calls for frequent contacts with the Agency, because Iran is a nuclear country today.”
In response to IRNA’s question, “How long do you think Iran’ negotiations with IAEA Deputy Secretary General Olli Heinonen would take?”, Aqazadeh said, “We will negotiate so long as it would be necessary.”
Muhamed ElBaradei’s Deputy in Treaties Affairs arrived in Tehran along with two IAEA experts on Monday for talks with Iranian officials over new “claims” on our country’s nuclear program.
In response to another question on main axes of the negotiations, he said, “We are engaged in lots of shared activities with the Agency, not all of which can be discussed in public.”
The same reporter again asked Aqazadeh, “How far will you proceed in your cooperation with the Agency?”
The Head of our country’s Atomic Energy Organization said, “In the framework of defined cooperation between IAEA and its member states, as well as the framework of the NPT, we, too, have responsibilities to heed.”
Another reporter asked, “Is it probable that you will also cooperate with the Agency in the framework of the NPT’s Additional Protocol?”
Aqazadeh replied, “Under the current conditions we think there is no need to abide by the Additional Protocol, since we already have enough regulations to abide by, in whose framework our cooperation with the Agency would proceed totally transparently.”
The Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization furthermore stressed that our cooperation with the Agency continues within the IAEA regulations, adding, “Currently there remains no ambiguity regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear program for the Agency, our relations are fully naturalized, and pursued within the framework of the NPT regulations.”
Aqazadeh added, “The Agency conducts its inspections within the NPT regulations and we, too, proceed with our activities based on the technical rights we are entitled to.”
He reiterated, “Therefore, from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s point of the view, Iran’s nuclear activities are quite transparent, and this is a point also mentioned in Agency’s recent report.” He reiterated, “Our current negotiations with the Agency are focused on whether there is any ambiguity and noteworthy claim to be surveyed. We have no other discussion with the Agency presently. Our relations are defined and if you notice that the IAEA officials’ visits are too frequent, it is due to the volume of Iran’s activities that calls for them.”