Big powers nuclear demands of Iran beyond NPT: Ex-diplomat

A former Iranian nuclear negotiator says the big powers in nuclear talks with Iran are making demands which are beyond the scope of international regulations, particularly the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“Not only was sending Iran’s nuclear dossier to [the UN] Security Council against international regulations and law, but the current demands of the big powers in the nuclear negotiations with Iran are also beyond the scope of recognized international regulations,” Hossein Mousavian said in a meeting in New York.

He added that world powers are asking Iran not to enrich uranium above five percent, limit its reserves of enriched uranium, limit the number of centrifuges…and enrichment sites, limit research and development of centrifuges, limit reprocessing activities, convert Arak heavy water reactor into a light water reactor and allow inspections of its nuclear sites beyond the NPT requirements.

“According to the present international regulations on nuclear program, which are based on the NPT, none of the global powers’ seven demands of Iran have any legal basis and [all of them] are beyond the scope of the treaty (NPT),” Mousavian added.

He noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has carried out more than 7,000 person-hours inspections of the Iranian nuclear sites over the past 10 years.

As a signatory to the NPT, Iran has allowed more probes of its nuclear activities than any other country and there has been no report of any diversion in its nuclear program toward the production of weapons, he said, adding that due to this reason, referring Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council and describing it as a threat to global peace and security was a disgrace for international law.

The former Iranian diplomat emphasized that there is a consensus among 16 US security organizations that Iran’s nuclear program has had no diversion toward weapons production and that Iranian authorities have no intention to build nuclear weapons.

“The approach taken to Iran’s nuclear case is 100-percent political and while lacking any legal basis, violates the existing international regulations regarding nuclear [activities],” Mousavian said.

The US, the Israeli regime and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the unfounded claim as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on Iran in a bid to block foreign companies from doing business with the Islamic Republic.

Iran is currently in talks with the P5+1 group of world powers – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – to find a comprehensive solution to the nuclear standoff.